A Murder At A Class Reunion
by Where's Beckett
Summary: Number 9 Kate is invited to her High School Class Reunion. Do these two EVER get a break? NO! What could go wrong here? A Lot if Rick gets to peel more of the Beckett onion
1. Chapter 1

**A NEW YEAR**

 **A NEW STORY**

 **Number 9 In my "A Murder In…Series"**

 **WOW! How did I get here?**

 **Because of readers like you who have continued to follow these crazy tales of fiction and a fantastic story line created by Andrew Marlow and Terri Miller and is owned by someone else and not me. I do this just to entertain and no other purpose, I wish AM and TM had stayed and we would have had more than 7 GREAT seasons**

 **Yes I know they claim a season 8 but I never saw a "Castle" season 8…only a show claiming to be "Castle" but had nothing in common with the real "Castle"**

 **Enough sadness**

 **NOW**

 **New story.**

 **Kate gets an invitation to her High School reunion. A period of time BEFORE she even knew Rick but did know who he was since her mother was a reader of his work. A time that Rick is mostly ignorant to. I wonder what or who might show up from her past?**

 **AND what could possibly go wrong?**

* * *

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A quiet Saturday morning at the loft. After finishing breakfast, Kate gets the newspaper from the hall outside the loft door and is sitting on the couch reading and catching up on the gossip stories existing on Page 6

At least, for the last few years, her husband is not the leading headline for the loose lips column. But sometimes when the news is slow, a passing mention might appear referencing him and her being out together. Kate is pleased that the editor has been kind enough to leave their children out of the media

She gets to laugh a lot thinking about what he once was, and how far he came. She knows that man changed just for her and she glances toward the study entry way.

Fortunately, for her, he is mostly unaware of her history. A past that might challenge his opinion of her if he ever got wind of her past, but that will never happen.

Or so the thought

Folding the paper and looking in the direction of her husband who is working on a new book. Just getting it outlined and ready to begin his next tale of Nikki and Rook, she stands and steps into the office opening "Hey babe…I am going down to the lobby to get the mail"

"OK hurry back" he responds without even looking up

She moves to the door, grabs their mailbox keys and heads toward the elevator

Rick has just about finished the outline for the next book. He thinks he will have Rook and Nikki get invited to a wedding in the Rockies and have to solve a murder. He then rereads the outline concept

'Nah. Nobody will read that' Castle says to himself. He then starts a new document. Thinking for a minute…'Maybe I will have Rook invited to teach a journalism class at the local university and there is a murder and Nikki and Rook investigate'

Again he disposes of that thought when he hears the door to the loft open and close "Is that you love?"

"Yeah. Got the mail. How's the outline coming?"

"Stuck at the moment but I am sure I will come up with something the readers will want"

"I'm sure you will" she replies as she drops down on the couch with today's pile of advertisements and other envelopes "I'm going to go over the mail and then we can go out for a lite lunch. Maybe after that you can have an attack of inspiration"

"Hope so" he responds turning his attention back to his computer screen and the irritating blinking curser

While looking at the still blank document he suddenly hears his wife's voice. Starting low almost like a moan "No" Then a louder "NO" Finally topping a very loud crescendo "NO! NO! NO!"

Followed by another string of "NO! NO! NO! NO!"

Castle jumps up from his desk worried about his wife. This is the same voice she has used, in the past, when a murderer is pointing a weapon at a victim getting ready to pull the trigger. Or he is thinking she has hurt herself or had found bad news in the mail. He rushes past the entry from his study into the main room where he finds his wife just sitting on the couch holding a piece of paper.

Seeing no immediate threat on her life he becomes more concerned "Kate! What's wrong" he says louder than he intended, but he is concerned by her loud words from just a moment ago

She is sitting holding an unfolded document and it looks like she actually might be a little freaked out by the words on the paper

She still has not answered but she is shaking her head 'No' and is saying the word "No" over and over

The closer he comes to his wife the more concerned he becomes since she has not yet answered him "Kate! What is it?"

By now, he has reached her and is sitting on the couch. He reaches over to take the paper from her shaking hand

Looking first at his wife then the document, he takes it from her and begins reading

* * *

 _' **The 1997 Graduating Class of**_

 _ **Stuyvesant High School Announces Our 20** **th** **Class Reunion"**_

The invitation page goes on to tell the date, time, and location of the event. It is in August and it will be three days at a high-end hotel just few miles outside the city. The first evening begins with a cocktail party, followed on Friday by a visit and tour of their old high school to see what has changed and, finally, tour of the new World Trade Center Complex. Then Saturday morning the women are invited to go shopping and the men either golf or skeet shooting at a nearby country club. Finally there will be formal dinner and dance in the hotel grand ballroom where, according to the invitation, there will be stories from the past and also numerous awards bestowed on their former classmates

"Kate" Castle looks to his wife where she still has a panicked look on her face "This is cool. Your High School reunion. That will be great"

She does not agree but just sits in silent panic

"Anyway, I thought you would be going to the Law and Justice High School and not the science magnet" Castle points out

"I was a rebel and I was not going to become a lawyer like my parents so I picked a different school. After I graduated though, I realized I wanted to follow in their footsteps and enrolled at Stanford as pre-law"

"OK" then he notices another paper in her hand that was included with the invitation.

"What's this?" He takes this one from her and begins reading

 _Dear Kate,_

 _The reunion committee is honored to advise that it has chosen you to receive the honor for the most successful woman from our class. We have noted your numerous accomplishments since leaving the hallowed halls at Stuy. We will bestow the award on you at the Saturday night formal dinner_

 _As much as we plan to hear about what went on at school, we look forward to hearing all about your adventures since we last saw you. It will be interesting to see what is more scandalous. The before, or the after high school_

 _Looking forward to seeing you again_

 _Caroline Nady  
Chairperson  
Reunion Committee_

Kate seems to still be in shock about what lies in front of her

Rick speaks, again "Kate, the date is the weekend the kids go to summer camp, so we don't even have to worry about babysitters. We can just go and have fun. You know get out of the city for a little romantic getaway"

Kate is still sitting silently beside her husband

"Kate? Are you OK?"

Looking up, finally "OK? Uh yeah, OK…I'm ok…I think"

"What do you mean…you think? Don't you want to go to your class reunion? See your old classmates. Relive old times? "

He is not totally sure if what he sees in her eyes are the beginning of tears or sheer fear on her face then she finally responds "I don't deserve any awards. I am just a cop doing her job"

What Kate is not telling her husband is not related to the award but more centered about what skeletons from her past might jump out of the closet and affect her life in ways she never considered when the bones were hidden away twenty years before

She finally convinces her husband that she was just embarrassed to be recognized in this way. He is not totally convinced that this is the entire story but for now he will let this slide.

Rick has returned to his outline hoping Kate will let him know what is troubling her in her own time.

Minutes later he hears Kate's voice from the door "Babe, I am going to go have an afternoon cocktail with Maddie. I promised her a while back to get together with her. Will you be ok?"

"Sure, love. I really need to come up with a new outline and I could use the quiet time anyway. Call me if you need anything"

"I will" Kate responds as she grabs her coat and is out the door heading down to Q3

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Maddie is waiting at the hostess counter when Kate enters thru the door "Hey Kate" Maddie starts the conversation "You here for lunch?"

"Kind of" Kate pauses a moment "Do you have a minute to talk?"

"Sure" Maddie turns toward the assistant "We will be in room 3" and her and Kate walk to the back of the restaurant

Once inside the private dining room, the two women sit at a table and Maddie asks Kate what she wants to drink

"Just water actually…" Kate pauses a minute then continues "we need to talk"

"Are you on duty? I promise I did not kill my chef" Maddie laughs trying to add a little levity

Kate lets out a gentle chuckle but it is evident that it was far from the laugh the woman expected

"Maddie, did you get the invitation to the high school reunion?"

The other woman seems to brighten up "OH, Yes! Isn't it wonderful? Seeing our old classmates…catching up on what they have been doing. Exchange old stories"

Kate's voice is shaky "Yeah…old stories. Stories from our past. You know things we did back then? Things we never thought about the consequences back then? Things we never thought would ever see the light of day?"

A look of understanding comes over Maddie "OH…YEAH! THOSE stories"

"Yeah…things we did and never thought about when we were 17 years old but now… Things we did…or rather I did BEFORE I knew Rick"

Maddie sees fear in her friend "You have never told him about your past? What went on in high school?"

"Yes! NO! Well not everything" She seems more panicked than she did when she came in "I gave him little nibbles when we were just partners. You know, teasing and flirting with him. Letting him think I had a WILD past"

"You did have a wild past Kate. Well maybe a little wild"

"THANKS" Kate huffs out

"Oh don't worry. Just avoid talking about what we did back then and all will be ok"

Looking at her old high school friend panic seeping from her skin "I am getting an award and they promise to tell stories from my past, so don't tell me to not worry"

"Kate they don't know everything

"What if they do know?"

"OH!" Maddie responds "You are worried he might get more stories about the wild Beckett?"

"YES…and, Maddie, he can't find out. I was just a kid back then and never thought about the consequences…, if he hears some of the things I did, it might change how feels about me"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

* * *

 **I am trying to get a little more personal in this story.**

 **And since I was a perfect student in high school I am open to ideas of what some you did in school or you think that Kate did.**

 **So, if you are interested, PM me and give me some details from your own sordid past and I will try to incorporate some wicked ideas without giving away your secrets**


	2. Chapter 2

Kate Beckett had taken a brief afternoon separation from her husband to make a bee line over to Q3 Restaurant and find her old high school friend, Madison Quellar and try to pull as much from her memory as possible. It seems neither is really sure about what they did or did not do that could become fodder for Kate's husband

After a brief visit Kate is heading back home. She has decided to spill all. Or at least all that she can remember of her wild teenage past. This way her husband will know all about her early life and therefore she will have no issues at home. She will prove that she has nothing to hide…well probably nothing

The closer to home she gets, the more worried she becomes until just before she arrives back to the loft her tension reaches its summit. Since she is not even sure she can truthfully remember some parts of her history, this might prove embarrassing if she tells him something he might not find out about otherwise so she decides to take a different tact.

Wait and explain

As soon as she enters the loft she hears the voice of her husband "How was your visit with Madison?"

"It was nice. We had not had a chance to talk in some time so this was really great" But Kate wants to move to another subject quickly

He is walking in to the living room and confront her. "So, did you two compare your stories so I can't know all about the true history of my love?" This is when he can see a small level of panic on her face. He decides that for once, he will use her past against her instead of the other way around

She walks up and wraps her arms around him, knowing he cannot resist her fingers on his neck "Castle, there are no stories in my past. At least no stories worth being concerned about" she scrapes her fingernails just under his hairline. She sees his eyes close due to the touch and she knows she has regained control

Or so she thought!

His eyes suddenly snap open "You mean the stories about Lexington?"

Her eyes pop open wide and she becomes visibly worried as her neck turns a bright shade of pink "What about…? I mean…what is about Lexington?" she is positive that he is just using the name to tease her and truly has no idea what happened there

He steps away while still speaking "Well, if you truly don't remember what happened down Lex then there is no issue, is there?"

She reaches out to grab his arm, but he has turned to walk out of the study and is just out of reach the opening. She tries desperately, almost stumbling, but before she can rush out to grab her husband the voice of two little Castles rush into the room "MOMMY, you're home…" the five year old has grabbed her mother and the nine year old has reached the spot next to his father

"Hey you two" Kate chokes out trying not to let the two in on the fact their daddy has just sucked all the air out of their mother

"What are you up to?"

"Grams just brought us home from her play"

Kate knew that Martha was coming to get the kids for a little while this afternoon but had no idea she was taking them to the theatre "So grams took you to her work, did she?"

Jimmy answers "Yeah. She took us all around the stage. We got to see the curtain ropes and the props and sets and stuff and then we saw the lights control box…"

Then his sister cuts in "And we saw the makeup place and all the pretty dresses and costumes they wear for the plays…"

Knowing some of the shenanigans that happen in the theatre Kate wants to ask is if they saw anything else. Like something they should not be seeing

"So grams took you there. Was anyone else there?"

Jimmy answers "No, just the stage manager guy and the woman who does the makeup. They were checking on supplies when we got there"

Kate gets a panicked look on her face then looks at Martha "Listen you two. We are going to go get something to eat, so I want you to go get cleaned up and we can head out"

The two littlest Castles exit the study and head up the stairs

Castle looks at his mother "SUPPLIES?"

Martha throws up her arm "They were in the supply closet and I told the kids they were checking the supplies"

"Mother. We don't need these two learning about 'SUPPLIE'S closets' way too early. OK?"

Martha turns with a huff and heads back to the living room. "They saw nothing" then under her breath "I hope"

Rick looks at Kate who almost breaks out in laughter "What's so funny?"

She responds "Just… A SUPPLY CLOSET? Really? I think we used that one ourselves" and she steps out of the room herself leaving Castle alone thinking about what has been said and his memories of the supply closet at the station. When he gets control again he then speaks softly to himself "She never did confirm nor deny Lexington".

He moves to the living room just in time for the kids to rush down the stairs

"We're ready to go daddy" Alecia says as the reach the main level

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The four Castles have arrived at the corner café that they all like so well. The children have the chicken strips. Kate orders a chicken salad and Rick complete the family meal with a hamburger steak with all the trimmings

During the meal he looks at his wife repeatedly wondering if he actually hit a nerve with her. What Kate does not know is that her husband was fishing. He has no idea about what she and Maddie did on Lexington all those many years ago

And if she can work it out, he never will.

But thinking about it brings a light redness to her neck. She works very hard to keep her family from noticing the color change in her face.

Once the meal is finished, the four Castles head back home. Once in the serenity of the loft, the two children get their baths and dress for bed.

Castle has grabbed a shower and is ready to dig more deeply into Kate's wild history when the peace of the loft is broken by Beckett's cell phone chirping with a message that she is needed at a crime scene

Kate walks up behind Rick in the bathroom shaving and presses herself into his back causing him to almost cut himself. "Hey babe, I got to go to work for a little while"

He spins around and quickly tells her he will get dressed and join her.

"You have to stay home and watch the kids" She reminds him.

A visible pout appears on his face "Hurry home. OK?"

She reaches up to his ears and softly runs her fingers down the lobes "OH I will. I had plans for tonight and they will just have to be delayed a little. OK?"

Knowing she has just caused his mind to change from wondering what happened on Lexington to thinking about what will happen when she comes home, she steps out into the night

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Arriving at the scene over the George Washington Bridge she finds both Ryan and Esposito looking out toward the river. She gets out of her cruiser and walks to the two men

"Hey guys. What do you have?"

Ryan points toward the back end of what looks like a vehicle teetering over the edge of the railing "That is an armored car that has a dead body inside"

Beckett is looking toward the vehicle that has been secured by wreckers and a fire engine, preventing it from tipping out into the Hudson "When was it stolen?"

"Well, that's just it" Espo begins to answer "It is not stolen. The armored car company has confirmed all of its trucks are accounted for and all of their drivers are also"

Beckett looks at Javier and her eyebrows climb "So where did it come from and who drove it?"

A woman's voice from behind Beckett answers part of the question as Lanie approaches "I will give you the who and how he died as soon as I get the body back to the morgue …" she points her thumb at the vehicle bridging the guard rail "as soon as they can bring the van back onto the roadway and my team can extricate him"

"Thanks Lanie" Kate responds

"Well, I am heading to the morgue to get ready. The others can do the hard part" the ME comments followed quickly by Kate

"Lanie, I will follow you back. I need to talk to you about something"

/\/\/\/\/\

When Dr. Parish arrives at her office, she finds her best friend sitting on an examination table swinging her long legs

"OK girlfriend. I could tell by your tone, something is bothering you. What is it?"

There is a poignant pause before Kate responds. You remember when you and I first became friends we talked a lot about our past?"

Lanie lets out a chuckle "OH yeah. We spent one night talking about our childhood and after the second bottle of wine, the tales got more and more…" she stops in her description noticing Kate's face turn to concern "What is it?"

"Did I ever tell you about Maddie and me on Lexington?"

Shaking her head Lanie responds "No. Why? What did you do?"

Kate looks up toward the ceiling then back down. She then gives Lanie to 411 on what was done

Lanie Parish is almost in hysterics listening to the story

"And I am afraid that Rick will think less of me if he finds out" Kate finally finishes

The ME takes her best friend's hands "Katherine Beckett…First off, that man loves you like nothing I have ever seen and him finding out about this will probably do nothing but drive him crazy to think about the woman he loves and who is now his wife doing that…. He will probably laugh just like I did or…"

"Punish me?" Kate remarks

"Yeah! Probably naked punishing"

Her lips turn up "Than maybe I WILL use it to my advantage"

* * *

 **Just so the Beckett haters can stop reading now, She was not ever a *-*%#*%^($$# like you seem to want her to be**  
 **As you see, whatever she did should be something that will drive Rick crazy. Crazy like she loves to do to him**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N At the end of the last chapter I commented about negative remarks about Kate. Sure enough I got an unsigned review that was a every ugly remark about her.**  
 **If you want to read stories where she is a really bad person. Go somewhere else. In my tales she has become a loving wife and mother who battles monsters**  
 **And, honestly what she did in high school was a teenager being a rebel, just like so many do and then later regret**

* * *

On her way back home to the loft, Captain Katherine Beckett thanks her lucky stars that the case of the armored car popped up when it did and gave her the chance to get out from under Rick's prying questions and give her the chance to try and come up with a good story to use when her husband does come around ask bring up questions again about Lexington

As she pulls into the parking garage she checks the time. It is late enough that the kids will be sound asleep and she hopes that she can just go in and grab a quick shower, then use all of her feminine charms on her guy to distract him from questioning her about her past

As she enters the loft she can tell by the darkened living room that her family is all safely in bed but as she walks toward the office, she can tell that her guy is in his study, sitting at his desk, with his laptop in front of him typing away

She makes sure to call out softly, so to not wake the kids "Hey babe, I'm home"

He responds equally softly "In here"

She walks into the office and up to his back where she leans her body into him and places a warm kiss to his neck causing him to let out a small sound

"I'm going to grab a quick shower. Will you pour me a small glass of wine?" leaning in again "That kind that makes me feel all…um…you know. And I might tell you all about the case that we caught. You will love it"

He knows full well what bottle she is referring to. "You got it love" and he saves his work and closes the computer and watches as Kate walks into the bedroom and on around into the bathroom shedding her clothes as she goes

He moves to the living room then on into the kitchen where he opens the wine cooler and removes the bottle containing the 'Special red' that gets Kate feeling a little extra amorous

He brings the two glasses into the bedroom closing and locking the door. He knows that having either of the little ones popping in tonight might not be the best idea

He sets the glasses on the coasters on the night stands and goes to his dressing room and quickly sheds his outer wear and returns to wait for his wife.

When the bathroom door finally opens and the love of his life enters the area Richard Castle is, once again, caught in a world filled with lust. His wife still has the charm to completely take her man to a higher level of desire focused directly on her

She is wearing one of his favorite night gowns. One that presents her legs to their fullest and gives him an almost unrestricted view of everything else

When she sees the look on the face of her man she knows she will be able to keep his mind directed toward her and not be interested in quizzing her about anything from her 20 year old history

She slides her lithe body into the bed beside her guy. The man that has a slack jaw look on his face. She decides to use the time to move him a little further away from his quiz

"You should have been with us tonight" she begins

His eyes are looking everywhere except her face. "What? I mean…where.…I what are you talking about?"

She picks up her wine glass, takes modest sip then leans her head back against the headboard "I just think that this case might be right up your alley"

"Case? What case?"

She looks at his face and knows he will not be asking about her rebel days…at least not tonight. He is more interested in her finishing the wine she has in her hand

"The case I was called to see about"

"Oh, yeah. That case"

She takes another sip of her wine. She knows full well that she will not be interested in the case in a few minutes so she continues quickly "We had a man dead in the driver's seat of an armored car teetered on the bridge"

"So?" he stutters out "Stolen or taken by an employee?"

"The car was not stolen. The armored car company said all trucks were accounted for and the man was not an employee either"

Still Castle has not taken his eyes off Kate's body "Was it a fake truck? What did the VIN come back to?"

Kate finally pulls Rick's chin up to look at her face "The VIN was fake. It was not a legitimate number. So it belonged to no real truck"

"What about the dead driver?"

She finishes her wine, places the glass on the coaster, "His prints were not in the system and we have no idea who he was" she move to straddle his body "His clothes even had no labels" she is reaching around Castle's neck and pulling him in to kiss him

Rick's breathing is becoming a little harder now "So we need" she kisses him "we need DNA" she kisses him "DNA we DNA" she kisses him

"What is it that you want Rick?" she kisses him again

"I just want you"

No more words are needed tonight

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kate rolls toward her husband's side of the bed to find he is gone. Knowing he is probably up getting breakfast ready for his brood she rolls back over and reaches down for her robe. After pulling the soft cotton around herself and tying the sash tightly around her, she moves into the living room.

When she arrives at the breakfast nook she finds her guy is in the kitchen softly humming a tune. Like so many years ago, she cannot tell what it is but, as before, he seems very satisfied at the moment. She leans into the door jam and just watches her guy working on the family's morning meal

How many times has she done this? Walked into the kitchen after a wonderful night with her husband and watch him beginning a wonderful meal.

So…many…many times

He turns to see his beautiful wife just smiling at him "You look radiant Mrs. Castle"

"You're not so bad yourself Mr. Castle"

He steps up and gives Kate a kiss "You hungry?

"Famished" she steps closer and takes a piece of bacon from the plate

He takes a half-hearted swat at her hand with a spatula

"Breakfast is almost ready. You want to go get the kids up?"

But before he can finish his sentence the two little ones are rushing down the stairs yelling "Mommy…Daddy!" and they come rushing to the table and climb into their chairs

The adults look at their children and smile back at each other. Rick comments first "you did good Kate"

"Just thinking the same thing Rick"

Castle plates up their morning meal. Kids with pancakes. Rick with an omelet and Kate with fruit and a yogurt

"Mommy" Alicia starts up "Daddy said you had to go to work last night"

"Yes, little one. I had to check on a crime"

Jimmy gets an evil look on his face "Was somebody dead? Shot. Cut up with a knife? Had his arms ripped off? Really gross?"

Kate looks at her son in shock then up to his father "Has daddy been letting you watch John Woo movies again?"

Castle is trying to fain innocence "He might have come in when I was watching one, but I made him go to bed"

"Not until the killer chopped off the man's…"

"ENOUGH" Kate stops the conversation. One we are having breakfast…and two…you will not be watching any more horror movies" then she looks at Rick "RIGHT, DADDY?"

Castle drops his head "yes mother" He misses the sly grin on his wife's face

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

St the 12th precinct Captain Beckett has arrived to join up with her two lead detectives "Gentlemen. Any changes from last night?"

Esposito answers first "Not really. The truck is totally fake"

"What do you mean FAKE?" Beckett asks

"The frame is from an International. The body is a replacement made by Gordon's Trucks. The cab is from a scrap yard. The unit was assembles to look like a real 'Barron's Armored Car Company', but like we found out last night, Barron's Armored Cars has no missing vehicles"

"What about the Vehicle Identification Number" she asks again

"That is a composite of numbers that do not even belong together"

"In what way?"

"The manufacturer id belongs to Subaru, the body model says it's a Corvette, the body style is a Ford

Pickup"

Kate shakes her head "Then we don't even have a decent place to start?"

"Not really" Javier finishes

Beckett looks at Ryan "What do you have Kevin?"

"The man appears to be in his late thirties. Average white male. Well-toned body however. Like he works out a lot"

Kate is thinking "Do you think he is military?"

Esposito answers "He does have that button up appearance of someone either in the military or recently discharged"

"Has Lanie got anything on him?"

"She called and said she wanted to see you. We assume about the case"

"OK" Kate responds "I will head down to the morgue. You two keep digging. There has to be some part of that truck that will give us a hint as to why it was built, what is was doing on the bridge, and why"

"Got it boss" and the two men goes back to their desks

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Captain Beckett leave the station and heads to the morgue.

This is a trip that has not occurred as frequently as it once did. Since Captain Beckett's unit works on much more than murders, her visits to Lanie have been more infrequent. The two women still stay in communication, just not as casual

When Beckett arrives she is greeted by the newest member of the medical examiner's office, Dr. Juan Selma. "Captain Beckett. Welcome"

"Dr. Selma, good to see you" she responds

"Dr. Parish is waiting for you in the autopsy room"

"Thanks" she passed the man and pushes her way thru the door "Hey Lanie" she calls out

Without even looking up from her notes "Well, it's about time"

"Sorry. Traffic was bad"

"No! Not just today. We haven't had a long girl's night out"

"It has been a while. I'm sorry" Kate nudges her friend "My life is crazy. Cases…kids…"

Lanie finishes "…Husband?"

"He does get a lot of my time" Kate's voice does not have any remorse but more happiness and Lanie notices

"You are still really enjoying married life"

Kate smiles "Very much"

Lanie gives Kate one of her knowing smiles

"So, Lanie, what do you have on our victim. Cause of death?"

"Well, for starters…he is not a victim"

Surprise crosses Beckett's face "What do you mean? He is not a victim? We found him dead. Slumped over the wheel of a bogus armored car. He was driving a truck that legally does not exist"

"He may have been driving an illegal truck, but his cause of death was not"

"OK. What was his cause of death?"

"He died of a brain aneurysm"

Kate's face drops "He died of natural causes?"

"He had a weak artery wall and it blew. He died almost instantly"

Kate begins thinking "Did you get anything on his identity?

"Nothing. His dental work is not US. Probably done overseas"

"Can you gets records?"

"I probably will not be able to get records from another country. In fact, I don't even know what country to begin with"

"What about DNA?"

"I put it in the system, but no matches are back. It might take months before we get a response from the European system"

"So this man is a ghost?"

"That pretty much covers it"

"OK Lanie" Kate turns toward the door "Let me know if you get anything at all"

"Wait a minute Girlfriend"

Kate stops and look back at Dr. Parish "What?"

"Tell me about this class reunion. I understand they are going to give you an award"

Kate is still uncomfortable. Her face turns red "I wish that were not the case"

"Why? That is a great honor"

Beckett pauses before answering "They said that they are going to tell some of my stories from high school

A look of understanding comes across Laine's face "OH Yeah…rebel Bex?"

Kate nods her head

"Well, Rick knows about your past…Right?"

"Most of it"

"What do you mean? MOST of IT?"

Kate fanes a smile

"Have you not told him about the Harley?"

"Not everything"


	4. Chapter 4

Captain Kate Beckett has left the morgue and is heading back to the precinct to see if her team has discovered anything new on the vehicle or the victim…well wait. He is NOT a victim. Lanie just said he is not a victim. He died of natural causes, but he was definitely not up to any good. No id. Driving an illegal vehicle, or rather a vehicle that does not or should not exist

When Beckett arrives on the floor she can see her two partners talking to someone. She immediately recognizes that profile. Her partners are being pestered by her husband.

He has his cell phone in one hand pointing at the many pictures he has taken of their children and lying on the desk beside him is an open photo wallet with many more images of the two little Castles

She walks up to Rick and leans into his back and kisses his ear making him jump. She then whispers "Hey Mister. You know you should not be bothering these nice police officers. You are probably interfering with an investigation and I may have to cuff you and put you in jail"

Rick turns around and pulls Kate close and whispers "the cuffs sound nice" causing her to smile "And if you let me pester their boss, I promise I will leave them alone"

As he gives her a kiss she lets out a soft hum then whispers again "later"

He smiles at her "OK I will be good. I just wanted them to see the latest photos of the kids"

She almost laughs out loud "They were just over at our house for dinner last weekend. How much could Jimmy and Alicia has changed in four days?"

Rick looks at his phone then back to Kate "Four day of growth?"

Happily frustrated, Kate grabs Rick's phone from his hand and closes the screen then takes the photo wallet off the desk, closes it, and lowers both items into his jacket pocket. Then she looks back to his face with a question in her eyes. Then her eyebrows pull together "Wait a minute! Where ARE the kids?"

"I left them at home. I told Jimmy to watch his little sister"

Kate grabs his ear causing a grimace to appear "You left a ten year old watching a six year old?"

"APPLES! APPLES!" He yells. Kate releases his ear "No! They are fine." He rubs his earlobe "Mother came by and wanted to take them to the park for a couple of hours and that gave me time to come down here to see if I could help"

Kate is to trying hard to pretend she is upset with her husband, when actually having him here today gives them the chance to do a little theory building together once again

The other two officers look at one another knowing how much these two love each other and love to banter like this

"SO? You think you can come up with the solution to our mystery, Mr. Castle?" she points at the white board "Here you go. Have at it"

Castle turns to the board and begins looking at the notes and photographs covering a large area of the writing surface.

He stands quietly for a minute then begins "You ran the VIN and it came back to a bogus series of numbers and letters that does not even come close to the actual truck"

Esposito responds first "The letters and numbers belong to several different manufacturers' products"

"OK. What about the engine? The block will have a serial number also"

Kevin Ryan picks up his notes "The engine block came from a Cummings Diesel block that belonged to a large 1995 Dodge dualey pickup that was totaled in an accident in Kansas and the vehicle was sold as salvage to a scrap yard in Nebraska where it sat for a couple of years. They have no idea when the engine was sold. This place is one of those 'Pull-a-Part' lots where people come in and buy parts from the vehicle and they have to remove it themselves"

"Can they tell us who bought the engine?" Castle asks

"They only keep records if there is a credit card purchase" Ryan answers "but this was probably not and there is no trail for who bought this motor"

"OK" Castle states then moves around the board again, now looking at the deceased "This man was not murdered?"

Beckett answers her husband "No. Lanie said he died from a brain aneurysm. No foul play"

Rick is looking at Kate "But he was driving a vehicle that should not exist" He looks back at the photo "Has Lanie found any DNA or dental information"

"Again. No" Esposito responds

"So this is not a factory built truck, but one that was assembled from scrap parts from around the country?"

"You got it" Kate comments

Esposito responds to that question "But the cab is definitely from an actual armored car, repainted of course. The back end is just a box that was welded together, door installed and gun ports. Just like a real car then painted to resemble the real armored truck"

"I suppose the box came from a different salvage yard too?"

"No, it is a legitimate box bought from, a dealer somewhere" Ryan responds

"And they have no trail of who bought it?" Castle asks

"No"

Castle keeps working in his mind "The rear box WAS made by Tomlinson Truck Body?"

"Yes. We had CSU verify that" Kate answers

"Then why don't you just get the serial number from the box and ask Tomlinson's to tell you who it was sold to?"

"That number and name was ground off. We barely could read the manufacturer name" Esposito finishes

"What about the confidential serial number?"

The other three go silent looking at Rick then Kate steps up to her man "What confidential number and how do you know about that?"

"When I was researching for one of my early Derrick Storm books, I had Derrick buy a truck box to use as a place to do surveillance. It looked just like a storage container used for construction so no one in the area thought anything about a storage box just sitting on the street. When I contacted one of the metal body manufacturers, they told me about the name plate and the confidential serial numbers. Everyone does that just in case you are using it for storage and it gets stolen, you can till trace it"

Esposito is grabbing a telephone along with Kevin Ryan doing so as well. Kate is moving closer to her husband, pleased to see him having information as he has done so many before "And where is this serial number?"

She turns toward the board with the picture of the truck and with her back side facing Castle.

With his wife standing so close and his eyes looking a little lower than the white board, he is having trouble thinking. "UH…on the opposite…side of the frame from the main nameplate near your rear…I mean the rear of the box. It is in so tiny, you need a magnifying glass to read it"

She turns around and can see where he is looking. She leans in so close to his ear "Good boy. Later we will have to discuss where you were just looking and a reward for that helpful bit of information"

GULP

They both know how much they have missed this playful theory building lately

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kate and Rick are on the street heading to the Tomlinson's dealership holding a note with the serial number that was retrieved from a spot exactly where Rick told them it was located

When they arrive at the Tomlinson dealership, they are having some type of customer appreciation sales event. Balloons, banners, a giant truck outside decked out with advertising.

As Castle and Beckett get out of her cruiser they are approached by s couple of very beautiful women dressed in skimpy outfits showing a lot of skin. Kate glares at these women with distain. Wondering how someone from her gender can put herself out there like that. Then she recalls something from her own past and decides to not comment

It is when she looks at her husband looking at her with love on his face and not the models all around

"What's the matter Castle? Missing the attention from your past?" Referring to all the skin on display

"They would have to be better than what I have…and they are not. Not even close"

She quickly leans her face to him "LI love you Castle"

"Back at ya"

Once they clear the gauntlet and enter the facility they are surrounded by the sales associates all hoping for the big sale

The nearest woman gets to them first "Hi I am Victoria. What are you looking for today?"

Beckett pulls out her badge "Information"

"OH" the woman responds "What kind of information?"

"I really need to see the manager"

Victoria points toward the office area "Mr. Barker is the manager and his office is the third on the left"

Just as they turn to go to the manager's office the lady grab's Rick's arm "You don't look like a cop"

"I'm not"

She has an evil look on her face "Is there anything I can do for you today?"

"I don't need a big truck" he glances across the sales lot

"I was not referring to a truck"

Kate turns back to the woman "My husband does not need a truck or anything that rhymes with truck either" Kate takes Castle's hand and squeezes his fingers

"OH! Sorry" and she quickly turns and steps away from the pair

As they turn back toward the manager's office they encounter an older man in a business suit "Is there something wrong?" he questions after seeing the confrontation

"We are looking for Mr. Barker, the manager"

"That is I" he answers 'Is there something I can help you with?"

"Can we go to your office?" Beckett asks

Mr. Barker directs the pair toward his door. Once inside Beckett tells him what they need

"Only serial numbers on units we sold are on file here. If that unit did not come from us, we will have to request that from the factory and they will want a warrant"

"Can you check?" Beckett asks

Mr. Barker turns to his computer and enters the serial number into his system and it comes back as 'Not ON FILE'

"It appears we did not sell that truck body. If you like I will give you the name at the factory that can help you in your search, but as I said, I know they will want a warrant"

Beckett shakes her head in acknowledgement "We can do that"

The manager hands over a note with the name and phone number of a the factory manager and tells them that he hopes they find out whatever information they are needing

Walking out of the door and walking back toward the entrance and her cruiser, Kate makes eye contact with the sales woman who quickly turns and walks in the opposite direction

Once they get back into her cruiser Kate looks at her husband "You still attract the women, don't you?"

A gentle smile crosses his face. "Oh, I suppose. But you know where my heart lies. And anyway, I have the same problem with you"

Kate honestly has a questioning look on her face "What do you mean?"

Rick slides his hand into hers and links their fingers "Do you have any idea how many times I have to tell the men circling around you that you are taken?"

Her face goes soft "Really?"

"Yeah. Really"

* * *

 **A gentle non cliff hanger for the weekend**

 **I must be getting soft or something**


	5. Chapter 5

When Castle and Beckett return to the precinct, she goes to her computer terminal and enters a warrant request for the truck box manufacturer to provide buyer information on the serial number they are looking for.

The judge's warrant clerk responds to Kate asking if the warrant is timely critical or not. She responds that it is not time sensitive. To which the clerk responds that they have a large number of warrant requests on a drug lord and they ARE time critical and that her warrant will be processed after the others

"It looks like it will be tomorrow before we have information on the truck box" Kate tells the others. Looking at the clock "I guess we need to pick this up in the morning"

Beckett stands and takes her coat from the back of her chair. Rick takes it from her and helps her put it on

Looking at Ryan and Esposito Kate remarks "See you guys tomorrow"

Both men respond likewise and Kate and Rick turn toward the elevator.

As they are walking Rick looks at his wife "Today was fun"

She smiles "Yeah. It was. I have missed having you here"

The doors open and the couple enter the elevator car. Moments after the doors close her voice can be heard

"CASTLE! Stop that"

Ryan looks at his partner while shaking his head "Some things never change. Do they?"

"Nope"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The day slows down to the evening and the evening slows down to the night.

Castle and Beckett return home to find Martha in the living room with the children on the couch watching a Disney animated movie. When the door opens both the littlest Castle's jump off the couch and go running to their parents screaming 'mommy,-daddy' and wrapping themselves around their legs

Rick leans down and snaps up his daughter as Kate bends down to Jimmy's level to wrap herself around him

"What did you two do today?" mommy asks

"Grams took us to the park and it was fun" Alicia responds

"We saw new elephants" Jimmy adds

Kate looks at her son "ELEPHANTS?"

"They put in a new line of elephants"

"A real elephant?" Kate asks

"No. It was elephants to play on"

Alicia finishes the story "There was four elephants. A mommy, a daddy and two little elephants just like us"

Kate smiles at her daughter's description

"They were walking together with each elephant's trunk holding the tail of the one in front

Kate glances at her husband who is now the one looking off in the distance like he has no idea about this

"Four elephants in a line huh?"

Jimmy finishes the description "There was a plate on the ground that said something about being for a person named KB, whoever that is. The word in front started with extra… but the word was way too big for me"

Kate looks at her husband again but speaking to the kids "Extraordinary?"

"That's it" Jimmy gleefully answers

He did it to her again then, with tears showing in her eyes, Kate trys to move away from this then asks the kids

"Did you see any of your friends?"

Alicia responds "No but we did meet a new friend"

Rick smiles to his daughter "A new friend? What was their name?"

"A girl named "Kira" Jimmy answers

The name causes a funny look from both Rick and Kate toward their daughter "Kira?" Kate asks

"Her mommy knew grams and they talked for a long, long time"

Rick looks at his mother who seems to be looking off in the distance

"Mother?"

"Yes" she responds

"You saw Kira? Kira Blaine?"

"Well, its Kira Murphy now. You two did go to the wedding you know"

"OK Kira Murphy? What was she doing?..." Castle stops cold when he looks at Kate's face. She seems to have lost the gleam in her Eyes

"Um. What was she doing here?"

"She came into town to see her mother"

"OK" Rick comments

"She asked about you" Martha states

"Really?" Castle questions

"Or rather asked if you ever found love"

Kate looks across at Rick

"What did you tell her, mother?" he asks

"I told her the truth…" Martha looks directly at Kate "I told her that you found the love of your life"

"What did she say then?"

"She specifically asked if that person was Katherine"

Rick looks directly at his wife "Yes it is"

The room is silent for a minute before one little boy gets back into the conversation

"I'm hungry. When do we eat+?"

His little sister chimes in "Me too"

The kids are told to go get their baths and clean up and mommy and daddy will order pizza. The two excited little ones rush upstairs to prepare for their favorite meal

Kate turns to Rick "I think i will grab a quick shower" she heads toward the bedroom

"Can I join you?" Castle asks with glee

"Maybe next time. The kids will be down too soon. And anyway, you need to wait for the pizza delivery"

This leaves Castle in the living room alone with his mother "did you have to mention it was Kira?" he says

"The children told you I was talking to her mother and I couldn't lie" Martha approaches the door, grabs her jacket and gloves "I will leave you to talk to your wife" and she woman quickly exits the loft

In a very few minutes, the meal has arrived and the children have returned to the dining room. Their mother arrives just moments later "That smells so good" she chimes in

Seated around the table the two adults and two children talk and giggle and fight over the last piece of cinnamon puffs dessert

After diner is finished, Kate tells the two that they have had a long day and need to get on to bed. The two try to argue and fuss with their mother but daddy steps in "You heard your mother. Now come here and give me a kiss and head off to bed"

The two do as they are told and head for the stairs.

Kate turns back to Rick "Go get your shower. I will put the dishes into the dishwasher and should be finished by the time you get done"

Castle is looking at his wife trying to determine if she is or is not upset by the earlier conversation from his mother. As Kate disappears up the steps he disappears into the bathroom

After a warm and refreshing shower, Castle re-enters the living room to find the kitchen and dining room lights both are off. In fact the only light currently on are the night lights located several places around the loft

When he comes closer to the couch, he can see his wife sitting quietly with her legs along the back of the seat and her body about a third of the way from the armrest. She seems to be looking out the large windows at the night sky

Castle steps up to the space behind Kate and sits down behind her

"Is everything alright?"

He feels relief as her body pushes back against him and she sinks into his chest, her head against the collar bone below his chin and a soft response come from her "Yeah babe. Everything is wonderful"

The two sit quietly for several minutes before Rick decides to break the ice "Are you sure you are OK?"

She reaches back to his arms and pulls both of them around her and folds her hands around his, pushing his fingers against her torso. She then places her palms against the back of his hands and links her fingers into his Rick cannot see it, but she slowly closes her eyes in joy

Her voice is soft when she speaks "Babe, have you ever thought about what it took for us to get here?

Rick is not sure what she means in her question

"I mean all the chess pieces that had to be in the exact right place at the exact right time for this to happen?"

He leans his head so his cheek touches her hair "You mean like Tisdale killing his sister mocking my book?"

"More than just that. Like Kira leaving you and…"

"And Mike Royce leaving you?"

"Yeah. And Meredith sleeping with her director, leaving you with a daughter to raise?"

"And Sorenson leaving you and moving to Boston?"

"And you and Gina not working out"

"Or you breaking up with Josh?

"All of those things brought us here…but one thing that really brought us together was a murder that happened before either one of us were even born"

She turns her head to kiss her husband "Any one of those dominoes not falling into the right place and the right time and US would not be US"

Castle pulls her in tighter "I like US"

"Me too"

There is a moment of pause "Every night, when we make love I think, how wonderful this life is"

She stops again "How easy it would have been for the smallest bump in the road to derail this?"

Squeezing her fingers "I am glad we were never derailed"

She stands and pulls him off the couch "Then maybe we need to go and celebrate the smooth ride"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The couple arrive at the station at 9:00 am to find her two partners sitting at their desks just looking at the arriving couple

Beckett speaks first "What's going on guys? Did you get the warrant"

Ryan answers "Yeah we did"

Esposito continues "We contacted the manufacturer and gave him the serial number"

"Well, did you find out where it was sold?"

Kevin answers that question "Oh Yeah. It was sold to a dealer in Virginia"

Beckett looks across the desk "This truck is a cobbled together truck of mixed parts?"

A voice comes from the direction of the elevator. A voice they recognize. Mark Fallon "Yes and parts from different states comes under the authority of the federal government"

"Agent Fallon" Beckett remarks with a little disdain in her voice

"Captain Beckett. Good to see you again"

This crime happened in our jurisdiction"

"Captain. I understand the deceased died from natural causes, so no murder. But he probably was a foreign national and the cobbles together vehicle crossed several state lines to get here and being a large truck and one that no one pays any attention to, we believe this may be a ruse for terrorists to place a bomb…a very large bomb, in a city somewhere"


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long time between updates. I am usually better than this**  
 **BUT**

 **Another story has invaded my brain and I have been working getting it committed to paper...or rather to electrons so I can come beck here full time**

 **Don't get too excited about this other story...it is NOT a part of my "Murder In The..." series**

 **In fact this other story is fulled with angst and angst is something I normally don't do. We will have to see how my current story goes and if I can keep the other story at bay for a while**

 **So for today. Here is a little more fun.**

 **P.S. we will have murder real soon or I will have to change the title here**

* * *

After Agent Fallon leaves the station Beckett is obviously upset by the recent information

"Boss, he is right" Esposito begins "There is no real crime here. At least not one we have jurisdiction over"

Rick has not seen his wife's eyes this hard in a long time. He is so glad she is not directing the frustration at him "You are so cute when you're angry"

She cuts her eyes at him

"But not when you're angry at me though"

A small softness appears on her face

"Love, he is right you know" Castle rarely uses pet names on her at the office so she knows he is truly concerned about her level of disgust and wanting to bring her back to reality

She looks back at the white board "I know. It's just this case had so many possibilities"

Kevin is trying to find a way to stay involved "Hey boss, he did damage a bridge here in the city. That is damage to public property. Someone owes the City of New York for repairs" he points at the crime scene photographs indicating several bent and broken steel beams

"Yeah but I don't think we are going to find out who owes us the money" Beckett remarks "so let's just pull this case from our active cases and drop it into the unsolved file. We can revisit it when time allows between other more serious crimes"

"Like a Zombie attack?" Castle is looking at Kate with a twinkle in his eyes so she knows he is just trying to make her laugh

She pokes his arm gently and nods her head

She then looks back to the desk phone "I will call the commissioner's office see if he has anything he wants us to work on, specifically"

Esposito takes a picture of the evidence hanging then starts pulling the documents attached to the magnetic board

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The next morning Beckett gets a phone call from the commissioner telling her that the team has been assigned to a jewelry robbery…only problem is there is no evidence of a robbery. No break in's. There are no security camera proof of theft. No missing shipments, just a fairly large loss of diamonds over the course of several years. So they are looking at embezzlement and the jewelery store owner is a good frient of the commissioner

The lead from the robbery division is an old nemesis of Richard Castle…Tom Demming. Now in charge of the robbery unit

When Kate gets the call she has just finished breakfast with her husband who is sitting just a few feet from her. He can hear the call from the speaker as Kate takes notes

After she hangs up from the call Castle comments "So Tom Demming huh?"

Demmng had married Laura, an officer from vice, that he had worked with several years ago. They have two children very close in ages to Jimmy and Alicia. He has also reached the rank of Captain of the Robbery unit

Kate pokes her husband on the arm and smiles at him "Are you still wanting to go there?"

"No, but it is fun poking that bee's nest sometimes" he laughs back at her

"If our kids were not in the same school and we didn't see him and his wife at the parents meetings all the time it would not be so funny"

"True" Castle responds "Tell Tom I said hi"

"I will" Kate takes her gun, puts it on her hip, grabs her bag, and before she heads for the door "I hope you can come by later

"Me too"

She leans into Rick's lips and gives him a quick kiss "Love you babe"

"Back at ya"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

At the precinct Kate walks up to the team only to find Tom Deming standing next to the desks of Ryan and Esposito. He has his phone out and pointing to pictures of his children just like Rick does

"You and Castle are both dorks" Beckett remarks as she steps up to the team

"Hey Beckett" Tom responds to her remark "your husband is proud of your kids too HUH?"

"Yeah we are" she looks at the phone in Tom's hands "Good looking family"

Thanks" he responds "I hear your group drew the short straw on this case"

"You think this case is punishment?" Beckett asks

"I think it is something other than a simple theft and having your group takeover is actually a treat for me. It this lets my team focus on real cases, you know? Robberies"

"Funny Tom" Kate remarks

Tom reaches out with a flash drive "This is everything we have digitized. The hard files will be up later"

She takes the memory stick drive from him "Thanks Tom. We will let you know how fast we solve this one for you"

"Sure Captain. I will let your team dig into this one" he steps to walk away "Oh I am supposed to tell you that Brie and Tom junior are going to the same camp next week with your two"

"I'll let Castle know" Kate responds as Deming enter the elevator

Ryan has opened the flash drive brought to them by Tom and loaded it on his computer while Esposito has the box containing the hard copies and is carrying it to the conference room.

Esposito and Beckett have just finished pulling out all the evidence and spread it out on the table in the conference room and they can now begin their investigation starting where the robbery team stopped but Beckett tells him that they will start over fresh with new eyes.

Ryan has finished sorting the files by date so they can see if the theft occurs during a progressive time line

The three have been working silently for several hours going over the exact same lines that robbery had already covered. As of this time they had not moved any farther ahead from earlier

Just as they are all quietly digging into the files the sound of the elevator bell draws Kate to look in the direction of the sound and sees an image reminiscent from times gone bye.

Richard Castle walking toward the desks carrying a cardboard box with four coffees and a sack of pastries

"Hey Castle" Ryan remarks as the man approaches the area

"Hey guys, I brought coffee" then he looks at his wife

Javier remarks "It's been awhile"

Rick smiles and gets her to smile in return "Too long actually"

Kate slides her little finger across her husband's hand as she takes her cup "Thank you"

"Always" Castle looks up at the board "What have we got here?"

Kate answers "We have a crime and you had babysitting duties…OH wait! This time you left Alicia in charge?"

"How did you know?" then he pulls back quickly protecting his ears "No. Your dad wanted to take them to Coney Island, so I got to come here and see if I can solve ant crimes for you"

As Ryan takes a large drink from the cardboard cup Esposito remarks "good luck with that" We have been staring at files and videos for hours"

Castle puts the carrier down "What kind of video?" he looks at the large wall mounted display screen

"Security video from the jewelry store" Ryan answers "We have watched hours of compressed files. There we see no customers with access to the jewelry cases without an employee within reach to stop any theft"

Beckett continues "and I have been looking for a clerk with sticky fingers pocketing any items. Everyone seems to be honest"

Looking at the multiple screen images on the computer from the front door to back door and everything in between, Castle notices that one of the cameras is located looking at the jeweler's bench

"Did you check out the jeweler?"

Esposito answer that question "We have seen no rings or necklaces being pocketed. Anyway they inventory all the items"

Rick leans in closer to the screen "They don't inventory the raw diamonds. Do they?"

Kate looks at her husband "Why?"

Castle points at the jeweler's fingers. "It appears that he is taking raw diamonds off of the bench"

Esposito and Ryan both get up and look closer to the screen "WHAT?"

All four are now crowded around the display. They watch as the jeweler is working on a new ring and as he sets diamonds into the ring mount, the raw gems are on the bench for him to select from. He seems to have something sticky on his finger and simply touches the pile of gems and several unaccounted for stones stick to his finger inside the crook of the second knuckle of his little finger

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After arriving home and having dinner with the family and getting the children's baths and dressed for bed, Rick, Kate, and Jimmy and Alicia are all on the couch covered up with a large comforter watching 'Toy Story'

As Woody and Buzz argue about the fact that Buzz is a toy and not really with space command, Kate keeps looking across the expanse of cover toward her husband

It takes a very short time for the two little ones eye's to close and sleep takes over. Rick carries each child up to their beds and finally comes back down to find his wife has turned off the television and is waiting for him on the couch with her legs curled up under her

"You want me to pour some wine?" Castle asks

"A little…not much" she responds

When Castle brings his wife a small glass, she takes it as he places himself down beside her

After a sip she looks over at him "It was fun again having you there today"

"Fun or necessary? Being I solved your case for you?"

She pokes his arm first then puts her glass down then leans into his side

"You did do it again. We looked everywhere except his pinky finger"

"Leave it up to me to spot the tinniest deception"

There is a long pause of silence

"Rick, we are going to the reunion next weekend and I want to tell you some things. Some things from my past that I have not told you about before"

He places his class down as well and wraps his arm around her "You mean the grunge rocker you dated or you and Maddie used to sneak behind the gym to smoke?"

Her head snaps up "You knew about that?"

"I have known you over ten years and I AM your husband"

"I think after we met, I mentioned dating the grunge rocker, but I NEVER said anything about smoking…did Maddie tell you?"

"You said that Madison would never tell your secrets because you knew as much on her, so no. It was not from her?"

Looking at her husband "So how did you know about that? What, Brett Edwards…no he wasn't at the school when we did that, but anyway we didn't do it for long. I started when I dated the rocker guy. The whole band were smokers and I just joined in" she pauses again for effect "but we realized it was a nasty habit and we smelled of cigarettes and…" It suddenly occurs to her "My dad figured it out. HE knew. Didn't he? And he told you"

"He said he smelled it on you so he knew. He hoped you would grow up and stop"

"I did…grow up"

Castle just smiles at his wife then "A lot of us did things like that in high school. Fortunately most of us figured out it was not a good idea"

She puts her head back on his chest "I am glad you understand"

"I do…" he pauses "but Lexington and the police are a little different story"

Again her head snaps up

"WHAT? UH?...What do…what do you know about Lexington? How did you find out about Lexington?" Castle gets a sheepish grin across his face "Everyone knows about Lexington"


	7. Chapter 7

**With my other story invading my brain, I have no idea how I got this one out**

* * *

To say that Kate Beckett is worried about what might happen this weekend is saying it mildly. From the moment they left the city in the shiny new Silver Maserati that Rick bought after the latest bestselling launch of the ongoing tales of Nikki and Rook. Kate has wondered what truths might come out over the next few days.

Rick kept telling Kate it was a great purchase since it was a demo model and he saved a cool one hundred thousand dollars buying it. But no matter how much he talked trying to justify his new toy, Kate's mind wandered a long way from the vehicle purchase. The truth remained that he had no reason to try and justify the purchase. As a family, they had were very comfortable, financially. Over the years, other than the loft and Hampton's home, they managed to purchase all units in the apartment building where Kate lived when they became a couple and it had become a nice investment with recurring income for them. They even convinced Kate's cousin, Sophia, to act as the manager in exchange for free rent

But arriving at the exclusive Westchester Resort in a very expensive automobile fit right in with most of the other regular guests of the community

But. All is not as normal for many of the attendees of Kate's graduating class. Several arrived in older sedans and even a couple of pickup trucks. They seemed extremely uncomfortable with the surroundings

As they are pulling up in the car and heading toward Porte co here and valet desk, Castle looks at his wife "Why is the reunion being held here? We can afford this but I would venture to say that very few of your classmates have been able to reach a level where this would not be a strain on their finances"

A staff member arrives quickly with a luggage carrier and as the valet is parking the car they are escorted to the check-in desk

Holding on to her husband's arm tightly Kate responds "You know what is crazy? All the expenses have already been covered. The hotel rooms are not costing any of us"

"Who is paying for all this? I mean first you have to be member here, which is almost impossible to even get on the list, but secondly I understand the cheapest room is one thousand dollars a night"

As they step up to the desk, Kate refuses to let go of Rick

"May I help you?" the overly perky desk clerk asks

"We have reservations…name is Richard Castle"

The clerk looks up "The author of the Nikki Heat books?"

Kate answers "That would be us"

"OH. I am a giant fan" she looks at Kate "Are you Nikki Heat?"

"No. I am Mrs. Richard Castle"

"Oh! Yes…of course." The woman appears to understand "Let me get your keys for you" she runs two scan cards thru a reader then hands them across the counter to the bell hop "You are in room 722. It has a beautiful view of the golf course and the lake. I am sure you will enjoy your stay with us"

Kate responds while holding her husband's arm close to her body "I am sure we will"

The bell hop directs the couple to a bank of elevators. Moments later the couple is exiting the elevator following the bell boy to their room

After getting the standard tour of the room and being shown all the amenities, Castle passes a tip to the young ma, has taken their key cards, and is looking around the sizeable suite

Castle has moved to the large window looking over the grounds. The young lady was right. It is a beautiful view

"Nice room Mr. Castle" Kate speaks in a low sultry voice as she walks up closer behind her husband and presses herself into his back knowing full well what she can still do to him "Do you take all your dates to nice places like this?"

"Only when I am hoping to get lucky" he looks over to her face

She makes him turn around and puts her arms around his neck "I think that is pretty much guaranteed"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The first evening is scheduled to be a cocktail party in the main dining room. Rick has just finished, in the bedroom, dressing in a nice suit when he looks out toward the dressing area and is struck by the sight standing there.

His wife has donned an elegant deep blue sequined dress, open half way down her back showing her smooth skin. The skirt is ten inches above her knees with her long beautiful legs extending toward the floor and she has already slipped on a pair of matching 6 inch heels making her legs look even longer than they actually are.

He still is amazed that his life has her permanently a part of it

She is just finishing placing a pair of blue sapphire earrings when he walks up behind her "I guess I will have to spend most of the night protecting my property from trolls and beating the other men away"

He sees in the mirror her eyes close softly and when they open back up there is a glistening visible

"You really think that?" and she leans back against his chest

He leans in and kisses her neck causing her to issue a soft moan "Not a doubt in my mind" he straightens back up when an expression crosses his face that she has not seen in years. The look of fear

Turning to face her husband "What's wrong?"

"Nothing" he responds

"This is more than nothing, Rick. What is it?"

He looks toward the door. We are going down to hang around your old classmates and I…I am…wondering how many of your old boyfriends are going to be here? Guys you might still have feel…"

She realizes what he is thinking. She steps right up to his face "Are you jealous of who might be here?"

"No…well maybe…just a little"

She reaches to his cheek and with her long fingers crossing his ear and softly remarks "There is absolutely nothing for you to be jealous of. Nothing at all. There are absolutely any unfinished business down there. Understand?"

He nods his head as she reaches across to kiss him. The kiss continues for several seconds

"We better stop this now or, I promise, we will be late" she remarks

She reaches over and takes her small cosmetic bag and drops it into his jacket pocket, then grabs his fingers into her own and pulls him toward the door "Let's go babe"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

When they arrive in the main ballroom, a large number of people have already arrived. As they enter the doorway Castle takes note of how many heads turn in their direction. Castle leans close to Kate's ear "I told you" Sha can only smile

They begin to cross the room heading to the bar when a woman begins approaching. Beckett recognizes the woman as the chairwoman of the reunion committee, Caroline Nady "KATE BECKETT" the woman says loud enough that most people in the room must have heard it

"Hey Caroline" Beckett responds

"WOW, Kate. You look amazing. I thought I heard you had a couple of kids"

"I do. We have a boy and a girl"

"And you kept that body? I was jealous in school back then and now even more so"

Rick sees his wife drop her head a little "Thank you Caroline. You look good yourself" Kate tries to deflect

"It's a good thing you brought your husband"

"I don't go anywhere without him"

"Listen I need to go greet some more people. We will talk later"

"OK" Beckett responds as the other woman turns and heads toward the door.

As Rick pulls his wife toward the bar once again, he is watching the men all looking her way

"How many of these guys did you date anyway" Rick whispers

Kate looks up to her husband "Very few actually"

"Well I see several that would like to now!"

She pulls his arm tighter to her chest "That's their problem" then she leans closer "I have what I need babe"

Rick orders drinks for him and Kate. After they are served, they look around the room and Kate's eyes land on someone and Rick hears her gasp

"What is it?"

"You see the guy over by the woman in the hot pink dress?"

"Yeah"

"That is Ronnie Chapman. He was the grunge rocker. I told you about us dating back in the day"

Rick looks at the man "He doesn't look like a grunge kind of guy. He looks like a businessman"

"Yeah?" Kate remarks

Castle can feel his blood pressure rise thinking about what he just expressed concern over. If someone from her past might still have a little niche inside her

About this time he notices Beckett and Castle. Excuses himself from, whoever he is talking to and moves quickly toward the couple "Kate Beckett? Wow! Look at you. You are beautiful still"

"Hi Ronnie. You look…"

"Different than I did in high school?"

"UH yeah" she laughs "What happened?"

"I grew up"

"So you got out of the music business?"

"No…actually I am deeper into that world. I am a music producer now"

Kate's eyes open wide "That is a long way from where you were back then"

"About as far separated as a person can be. I no longer go crazy like we did back then…" he gets a funny smile on his face "You remember us going to CBGB back in the day?"

Castle is hearing a little more about Kate than he knew before. He looks at his wife "You went to CBGB back when you were still in high school?"

He can see that she is a little embarrassed about that part of her history "Yeah…we…Ronnie and Maddie and me and a couple of other kids got fake ids and we got in. She looks back at Ronnie "That was one of the most gross things I have ever done"

"Yeah me too, but it did tell you not to go to the restroom"

"Yes you did" Kate chuckles

Rick decides to work his way into the conversation "So, Ronnie, you are a producer now. No more groupies..." looking at Kate "throwing themselves at you"

"No. I produce. I set up the concerts, shows, recording sessions, negotiate contracts"

"Any groups we might know?" Beckett asks

"Pink Flamingos?…Tomorrow's Yesterday's?...No Parachute?"

"I think Alexis has mentioned them" Castle responds. Kate just standing there knowing that their daughter has never mentioned any of them

"So Ronnie did you ever settle down? I mean get married?"

"Oh yeah." He points toward the woman in pink "That is my wife Yvette" he speaks loudly toward her "Honey, come here

The very attractive woman steps close by "Honey, this is Katherine Beckett. We knew each other in school…"

Kate realizes she has not introduced Rick "Ronnie, this is my husband Richard Castle. Rick this is Ronnie Chapman"

The men exchange handshakes and pleasantries. The four talk for a few more minutes when they hear another voice come up behind them

"BECKETT…KATE BECKETT. As I live and breathe"

The group turns around to see a man standing behind them. A man not one of them seems to recognize

Wirth a questioning voice "hello?" Kate responds

"You don't recognize me?"

The man is actually ruggedly handsome. Tall. Tanned. Well built

"Charles Ivy"

The two former classmates seem quite shocked at the man calling himself Charles Ivy. Kate and Ronnie both remembers the person named Charles Ivy. He was a high school dork. Always had a computer open in his lap. He wore thick coke bottle glasses. Had crooked teeth and a bad case of acne.

Finally Kate remarks "Charles? Is that you?"

"It is"

Ronnie comments "WOW you have changed"

"Oh yes. I had a little work done" he seems less like a dork and more like an angry man. Got a dermatologist to work on my face. A great dentist to fix me teeth and a really good eye doctor and…" he flips his hands around his body "I am a new person"

"I see that" Kate responds "You look really nice. So you have done well?"

"Very well. In fact so well I am the one paying for all this" he points his thumb toward the room

His remarks brings questions to all four

"You seem to have done well. I guess you have been lucky in the business world?" Castle asks

Anger seems to cross his face "LUCKY…NO! Not lucky. Talent yes. I developed software that protects our government's computers from hackers"

Ronnie responds "I heard about that. It can adapt to the hackers' attacks. A new attack is met almost instantly with the system adapting"

"That is the one" he responds. "And it has made me very, very rich. So now all the people who ignored me in high school now have me to thank when the government is safe"

He seems to get a sterner look on his face then looking directly at Beckett "And the girls I had a crush on back then will wish they had not ignored me"

He looks at Beckett, "Kate, you were one of the only friends I had back then. You always spoke to me. Did not walk away when I came around. Were my friend"

There is a brief silence then his eyes drift from Kate "I have other people to see right now. Enjoy the party"

The man steps away from the group

Rick looks at his wife "Kate. That was creepy"


	8. Chapter 8

Castle and Beckett wander around the room a little more.

Kate can tell by his demeanor that Rick is proud to be the person escorting her in and out of conversations with her old classmates.

The one concern Kate has kept inside her about are actions on her part when she was only 18 that have not materialized and she is hoping that either no one remembers…that is not likely…to no one else really knows…which is also impossible

As they move from the bar, one of several in the room, they see several former classmates of Kate are who all seem to recognize her but they don't really stop to talk.

Then a woman walks up "Kate Beckett?" the tall raven haired beauty remarks

Beckett halts in her forward motion and turns back. After only a brief heartbeat responds "Helen Underwood?"

The woman rushes toward Beckett and wraps her into a hug "Kate Beckett. I am thrilled you are here. I was hoping you were coming"

"Helen. It is great to see you too" Kate responds with a smile on her face. You don't look any different than you did in high school"

The woman pulls back giving Kate the once over from head to foot "And you look even better than you did back then. WOW! You are one hot lady" as her eyes return to Beckett's face "And how do you keep that body? In that dress? With those legs? I mean you were the hottest chick in Bed-Sty but look at you now!"

Beckett blushes for just a moment from the woman's remark then trying to deflect "Helen…" Kate pulls Rick closer "This is my husband, Rick…"

The woman reaches out before Kate can even finish "Hi Rick. Great to meet you. You must be taking great care of Kate. She is glowing"

"I try but there is not much I have to do. She is low maintance"

Kate looks at her husband and gives his arm a gentle poke

"So Helen. What are you doing now? Are you married?"

"No, I am not married. I was once. I lost him in Afghanistan"

"I am so sorry" Castle responds

"Thank you. And as far as work…I am a lawyer. I have a practice in Chicago. It keeps me very busy. You remember, toward the end of the school year, we talked about us both becoming lawyers. Did you make it?"

"No. I got started at Stanford in pre-law but then my mother was killed and I came home to be with my dad…and I joined the police department"

"I think I did hear about her. I am so very sorry Kate. I know you two were very close…except for that book thing…you know with the author" Helen is smiling

Castle looks at his wife "What book thing is that" he turns his head back toward the other woman

"Oh, her mother was enamored by this mystery writer and his novels. Kate got tired of hearing about him …what was the name? I remember something Storm." Looking at Kate "I think it was Derrick Storm books? Who was that author?"

Rick sees the color wash from his wife's face "Oh she was tired of hearing about the writer huh?"

Kate looks at Rick. "That was until I finally read one of the books then I definitely changed my mind about him"

Helen pipes back in "So you like him now?"

Kate has her best smile directed at Rick "Yeah! I like him now. In fact I love him now. That's why I married him"

Kate looks back at her old classmate "Helen. I didn't finish introducing my husband. This is Richard Castle, my husband. the writer of Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat. The father if my children and the man I am proud to be married to"

"OH WOW! Again Kate…and wait. Did you say children?"

"Yes. We have a boy and a girl. Rick had a daughter when we married. Alexis. She is a doctor in her residency down at Parkland Hospital in Dallas"

"I am so jealous"

"No children?" Rick asks "I'm sorry"

"No. We wanted to wait but then he got killed and…well you know?"

"I understand Helen" Beckett responds "Hey listen, we need to get together and talk later. Maybe tomorrow"

"Great. We can meet after breakfast. I 'll see you then"

Beckett and Castle turn to move toward the center of the room when she stops and turns into Rick and moves her body right up against his "Low maintance? Huh?"

The shocked look on his face answers her question if she got his attention

"Well…yeah…I…I mean I don't have to do a lot things FOR you like some men have to do for their wives"

"Babe, you do more for me than I thought possible from our personal life to my job but "When we get back to our room later, I will tell you exactly what type of maintance I need…understand?"

"Yes ma'am"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

As they go deeper in the ballroom again, they encounter a man sitting at a table alone that looks vaguely familiar to Kate." Castle I think that is Wes Wright"

"Who is Wes Wright?"

"He was the captain of the football team and was voted most handsome. He was homecoming king along with…uh…I can't remember her name"

Rick sees a little blush cross his wife's face "What?" he asks

"Trying to deflect "What What?"

"I saw you turn red"

"It's nothing"

Castle pulls her closer to him "I know you Kate. That is something. You don't fluster easily and you turned red the instant you recognized him"

She uses her eyelashes looking sultry up at her husband "OK! I was seventeen…he was voted the most handsome…and the most popular…big football player and I had a giant crush on him… but he was dating Nancy Hopkins… and she was voted the most beautiful… and I was a rebel and I was not pretty like her… and he didn't even know my name…"

Castle pulls her into him tighter and leans in to kiss her "That's good"

She pulls back "WHAT do you mean? That's good?"

"Well if he had noticed you… you might be with him and I would not be married to you. And by the way, I have seen your annual pictures… and you were so beautiful even back then…"

She drops her head to his shoulder. After all these years they still are still in love as much as they ever were and his words and actions prove it

"So, Mr. Castle…you are OK with me having a crush on the most popular guy in school?"

"From his looks he may not be the most popular anymore"

Kate looks at him more closely. "He does look at little rough" she pauses then continues the thought "And a lot drunk. Look at him babe. He has three empty glasses in front of him and another in his hand"

About that moment the man looks up and his expression changes "KATE BECKETT!" he is almost yelling. He stumbles trying to stand up

"Whoa! Will you look at you? Man oh man. You are still hot"

He finally has come close to the pair but he smells so bad neither Rick nor Kate can stand to be near him so they try and back up as he moves closer trying to give Kate a hug

Kate puts put an arm stopping him

He finally stops in his motion "Oh sorry, didn't see him" pointing at Rick "Is this your boyfriend?"

"No Wes, this is my husband"

Looking at Castle thru bloodshot eyes "too bad" he barely mumbles then looks back at Kate "It would have been great"

Rick laughs when Beckett responds "In never gonna' happen land"

Kate turns toward Rick "Let's go babe" and she pulls him away from the drunken man

When the two get out of earshot Castle looks back "So. You had a crush on him. Just think. If he had noticed you, then you might be here with him"

Holding him tight to her arm and leaning into his ear "Shut up"

She can feel him laugh.

As they get about twenty feet away another woman approaches "Kate?"

This time a shorter woman with cropped brown hair is in front of them. Kate recognizes the woman immediately. Mariam Yarnell

"Mary" Kate almost screams out "How are you?"

"I am great. A whole lot better than Wes" she points toward the drunk man stumbling back to his table carrying yet another drink

Kate is looking in that direction "What happened to him. In high school, he did so great"

"He's not doing so great now. He dropped out of college when he couldn't get on the football team…"

"Yeah, football was kind of his love" Beckett comments

"When he came home, there were no jobs, so he lived with his parents until they died. He lost the house they owned. He even was fired from the hamburger joint in the neighborhood where he was flipping burgers"

"Man that is a long way down from top athlete" Rick comments

"Oh sorry Mary" Kate grabs Rick's arm again "This is my husband Richard Castle…Rick this is Mariam Yarnall. We all called her Mary"

The woman reaches out "So nice to meet you Rick…Can I call you Rick?"

"Of course"

She looks back to Kate "I heard about the famous writer following a hot police detective, named Kate Beckett, around and writing the Nikki Heat books about her. I thought that might be you, and look here. It is. So Kate how long have you been married?""

"Twelve years…we have two children of our own an my adopted daughter, Rick's daughter Alexis"

"Glad you married Rick. You did know that Wes had the hots for you in high school but he felt like you were out of his league"

"WHAT?" Kate is in shock. She looks back toward the drunken man then back to Rick when he smiles and remarks "So I was your second choice?"

Mary reacts to Castle's comment "You might not have wanted Beckett back then. She was a rebel you know"

"I heard something about that" Castle smiles down to Kate "Do you have any juicy tidbits of history I can use against her?"

"OH yeah. I do." She gleams a look at Beckett "You remember what we did on Lexington that got you and me and Maddie in trouble?"

Kate responds by grabbing his fingers tighter and her face goes totally red

She tries to choke out a comment "UM Mary…Rick doesn't need to know about that"

"Oh come on Kate. You weren't the only one there that night"

Kate realizes that Rick is looking thru her now "Yeah but I never told Castle about that"

"You mean your dad never told him either?"

Kate decides that she is busted "I don't think so" looking up to her husband "We will talk later. OK?"

"Oh come on Kate. Everyone gets busted one time or another"

Kate's head snaps around. It dawns on her that Mary is NOT talking about the same incident on Lexington that she is worried about "OK Mary. Go ahead and tell him"

"Well we were all a little drunk…no we were all a lot drunk and someone challenged us to a drag race." She looks back to Kate "whose car was it "Bobby Howell? I think. He had a Camaro. We were all in the car and he blew a front tire. We crashed. The police took all of us to jail. Kate's dad had to bail her out of jail"

"Really?" Castle is still looking at his wife "Rebel Becks in lockup. The same Beckett that enjoyed putting me in holding"

Trying to change the subject Kate turns back to her friend "So Mary. How about you? What have you been doing since graduation?"

"I married a man I met in college. Stanley Seibert. He is an investment banker. He helped Charles Ivy start his business"

"Wow" Kate responds "That is great. So you are doing well?"

"Yes. Extremely well"

"Will he be here tonight?"

"No. He had another commitment he had to be at but he hopes to be back for the formal dinner"

"We are looking forward to meeting him" Rick answers "Come on Kate. We need to talk a little more about your past"

After spending a little more time re-connecting to her old classmates the evening begins to slow down Rick pulls Kate to the dance floor where some soft romantic music is playing. He pulls her to him and she goes willingly against him

"I have wanted to do this all night" he tells her

Her eyes are closed and she is lost in his warmth "Me too"

A moment later she looks up "Are you about ready to go back to the room and do some other things you have wanted to do all night"

"Why Captain Beckett…whatever do you mean?"

She takes his hand and slides it down past her hips to her rear "This is what, I believe, you have been waiting for"

* * *

 **Alright. Enough Set up Someone has to die**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry it took so long but the Power of Attorney got in the way**

* * *

A Saturday morning is always a relaxed peaceful morning for these two. They insist the children sleep late, when they listen which isn't that often.

Castle's thinking is that there is something special about being able to just lounge in the bed with the spouse. Especially a spouse that you love as dearly as he loves her

Rick is not aware that Kate is thinking the exact thing about him that he is thinking about for her. Both thinking about lazing in bed with the spouse or doing other things with that person

Even with this being a Saturday morning, they are both waking up gently from their night spent in activities usually celebrated by newlywed couples

Rick feels Kate roll against his side, snuggle up on his shoulder, and she gently kisses his neck "Good morning babe"

"GOOD morning yourself" he responds with the emphasis on the good. He has pulled his arm onto her bare shoulder and back

"I am surprised you didn't put on a night gown"

Not looking up she responds "Who said I even brought one?" and he feels her pulling in tighter. That naturally causes him to react the same

After a few moments Rick remarks with a small change in the tone of his voice. One she is not sure if it is worry or something else. "Did you notice how many of your old classmates were checking you out last night?"

"No. Were they?"

"How could you miss it?"

"I was busy talking to old classmates and checking out the guy I came with" she says with a chuckle in her voice "And of course watching out for the women that had eyes for my man"

He does not remark and that is when she realizes he was serious in his question she looks up to his face and props her chin on his chest "What's wrong Rick?"

After not getting a funny comment in response again "What is it Babe?"

"Looking at all your old classmates and all the guys who were watching you, I…I just…I was wondering how many of them knew you …. You know, you were more than just the pretty girl in the seat across the aisle in English class."

She decides to play with him a little "You mean 'KNEW' me in the biblical sense?"

He nods his head

"Is this you being jealous?"

"Well maybe…a little. I could have sworn that some of them were looking at you with more than just a friendly hello. More like remembrance"

She decides not to let him suffer too much "None of them"

"They sure looked like they …I mean… they…wanted to get a little closer than…"

She rises up higher on his body to kiss him "you remember how much I flirted with you when we first met?"

"Yeah" he responds

I had a lot of practice in high school I WAS a flirt and a tease. Some of the guys just hated me because I would not let them go too far"

He kind of points his thumb toward the door "So not one of them got…went too…."

"If you really want to know…?"

Silence

"NO! Not one of them. I didn't become active until later"

"So I don't have to be jealous of any of the guys here?"

"You don't have to be jealous of any guy anywhere" Then knowing how much guys like to have their egos stroked she continues "I told you several years ago how satisfied I am in our marriage?"

"Yeah?"

She leans up to his face and slides a long set of fingers across his cheek "That has not changed. You have given me everything I have ever needed both physically and emotionally" she then gives him a soft yet wanting kiss

When she pulls back ever so slightly "you know what they say?"

"About what?" He does not understand then she leans back into his face

"A day that begins with making love can't be all bad" and she dives back into his face

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After a longer than normal time from waking up and getting dressed, they finally reach the main dining room. She has dressed in a comfortable pair of slacks and cool blouse and he, similarly, in slacks and sports shirt. Both are wearing comfortable shoes planning for a casual day at the golf course. Neither plays, but enjoy the open air and warm sun

The two of them are looking around to find a table to sit before going to the buffet and custom made to order egg bar

Their attention is caught when they see Maddie Queller but she is now talking to another woman but there are empty seats at the table. Maddie waves at the couple and motions for the available seats. It is possible that she is trying to attract Kate and Rick to join her

When Rick and Kate reach the two women Maddie introduces the other woman "Kate did you know Nancy Hopkins? She graduated with us"

Nancy seems very stern in her expression and add to it when she gives Castle the once over. The difference in this event from his history of adoring fans, this woman seems more disapproving than appreciating the man

Kate honestly does not recognize the other woman" No I guess not. Did we have any classes together?"

"No. You did not know me. I knew you, of course"

Kate is honestly confused by the woman's comments "You knew me?"

"Oh yes. Everyone knew you. You were the girl all the guys wanted and from what I hear several boys did"

Beckett's response is fast and firm "I don't know what you heard or from whom, but that is totally not true"

The woman seems put out by Beckett's response "Whatever…I have to go. See you around" and the woman walks away

"WOW" Maddie starts off "that was intense. I wonder what got into her?"

Kate is feeling Rick's eyes on the back of her neck. She looks up at her husband "I have no idea what she is talking about…I promise"

Maddie confirms in Kate's defense "Rick, we were best friends in high school and I promise that woman's statements are totally wrong. Kate was not that way"

Kate looks at her husband He has a blank look on his face. She is not sure if it is hurt, anger, or something entirely different

She turns around then pulls him to the side "Babe. It is not true…. I did not sleep with any of my classmates…. I NEVER did what that woman said…. I don't even know her… I don't know why she would…say…things like that…" she stops when she detects a small upturn in his lips "you believe me? Right?"

"You told me this morning and I believe you" he responds to her rambling

She pulls his arm tight and he wraps his arms around her

"Kate. We have been together too long. And I do know that you were that rebel in high school. Maddie has told me all about you and how you really were back then. The things you did and the two of you did getting in trouble."

"She did?" Kate seems to have a touch of worry building up "What did she tell you? I mean what kind of things did she say I did…I mean we did?"

"Granted she never mentioned CBGB however"

"Let's go have breakfast…" he starts pulling her toward the tables again "and we can talk later" she goes willingly

After they get their breakfast selections they rejoin Maddison at her table "Maddie…? "Kate starts out "Do you remember her from school?"

"I have no idea. Before you arrived she was ragging on men. Calling then awful names. Saying they were all dogs. They only want one thing from a woman and after they get it the guy is done with her"

Castle is looking at the two ladies sitting with him "She is sure bitter about something…"

Kate finishes "or someone"

"Some man must have really hurt her. Did her wrong…"

"Or she wanted something and he was not interested"

"Or both" the both remark at the same moment

Madison is sitting watching her old high school friend and husband/best friend carry on a conversation as if they were of one mind

"So Maddie" Kate starts up "How is Q3 doing?"

"We are really doing wonderful" She looks at Castle "You mentioning the restaurant by name in the latest Nikki Heat novel didn't hurt me"

"We're glad" Castle responds "It was Kate's idea" he looks at his wife and she ducks her head

Kate raises her head "Are you going shopping, play golf, or do the New York tour?"

"None of those. I see enough of the city with the catering business. I don't need anything from the expensive tourist traps but I enjoy watching the single men play golf"

"Good choice" Beckett chuckles

Just as the three are finishing their coffee they hear the sound of a siren and an ambulance pulls up to the front followed closely by several uniformed police officers, The emergency responders enter the hotel and are escorted to the penthouse floor by hotel security

Castle refills the ladies coffee cups and the three sit and watch the coming and going of several police officers, both uniformed and plain clothes

"I wonder what happened?" Maddie remarks

"Since we saw the paramedics come and leave without a patient and the police are here in force, including detectives, I would say they found a dead person" Castle answers

Then Kate suddenly has a question on her face "Didn't they go to the penthouse?"

"I think so" her husband confirms

"That is where Charles Ivy was staying" Kate looks up through the atrium "I wonder if he is OK?"

Kate feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulls out the device and sees that the id says the caller is the New York police Commissioner "Hello sir" she listens as he tells her he needs her to look into a special case. A high profile murder "Sir…I am on a brief vacation. I am at my class reunion in Westchester…" again he is talking "WHAT" she looks up toward the top floor "Yes sir…I will keep you informed"

She hangs up on her phone "babe. Homeland and the FBI want me to look into the death of Charles Ivy. He was found in his hotel room beaten to death" she points up "That is what is going on up there"


	10. Chapter 10

Castle and Beckett have entered the elevator heading back up to their room so Kate can pick up her badge and ID. When the doors close Kate turns to Rick to describe to her husband what is happening "The commissioner said that there was a break in at the offices of "CI Software"

"Isn't that it the company that Charles Ivy started and where he developed the 'Closed Door' firewall and anti-spam software that the government uses to protect Washington's sensitive computers from data breach?"

"Yes"

The elevator stops on Kate and Ricks' floor. She goes into the room and grabs her badge, id, and her tablet to get a detail report that was sent to her device. They start walking back to the elevator and up to the penthouse and Beckett starts reading the report

On the way to the top floor Kate and Rick she begins giving the information to Rick and continue their conversation

She is reading and talking "As soon as the initial units determined that the nature of the business was software, the break-in was immediately assigned to my unit so Ryan and Esposito were there investigating

"Do they have any suspects?"

"No. Not yet"

"After my guys started the investigation they asked for the owner to be contacted. The company staff told them that he was here so they attempted to call Ivy to tell him what happened but got no answer in his room"

"So I guess they called the hotel to check on him?"

"Yeah and when hotel security called and got no answer they entered his room. They found it trashed and him beaten to death on the floor"

"So the hotel called the police and also called back to Ryan and Espo?"

"So how did they find you?"

"His staff knew that he had rented this hotel and was coming to the reunion"

"And Ryan and Esposito knew you were here…"

"And they told the higher ups…"

"And here we are…you and I… heading to a murder scene…Instead of doing 'OTHER' things"

"More fun things" he remarks

She smiles at her husband "As usual"

The elevator doors open and the two come face to face with a very large uniformed officer with the Westchester Police department

He holds his hand up "Sorry…this floor is closed"

Kate pulls out her badge "Captain Kate Beckett NYPD. I am here on orders. I am looking for Detective Drake"

The uniform looks over her credentials and back at Kate. He hands her folio back to her then looks at Rick "And may I see yours?"

As she takes her id back "He is with me…now can you get Detective Drake for me?"

The uniformed officer does not appreciate her managing attitude, but he complies by taking out his radio and calling for the detective

A minute later a large well- built man appears from the doorway of the penthouse. He is tall, over six foot. He has short military style haircut, and solid frame. He obviously was min the service and still takes good care of himself. He reaches out his hand "Hi, I'm Detective Stanly Drake."

"Detective Drake, I am Captain Kate Beckett" she points at Rick "And this is my husband and partner Richard Castle"

The detective seems to have a knowing look on his face "THE Richard Castle that wrote the Derrick Storm books?" he reaches out to Castle

Returning the handshake, Castle is surprised that someone new remembers his first series of books after several years "That would be me, yes. It is nice you remember"

"Your books meant a lot to me when I was younger. They are why I joined the service"

Kate makes the next statement "So you were military?"

"Special Forces"

"I have another officer in my unit that was also with the teams. Javier Esposito"

The man seems to get a knowing look on his face "I've heard of him. He is somewhat of a legend in the teams"

Castle looks at his wife who seems to also have a question on her face in her eyes "Javi is well known?"

The man does not verbally answer but does nod his head and tighten his lips as if trying not to say more. He looks at Castle "Derrick Storm is the reason I went into the service. He was an idol of mine. I wanted to save the world"

"Thanks Detective Drake, I appreciate that"

"Well Captain Beckett" He looks back at Kate "Your team has taken over this investigation?"

"Call me Kate and no we are not taking over. This is still your case. We are here to help and work WITH you and act as a pipeline to NYPD and tie the case in the City to this" she watches Drake's temperament change

"Very well. Thanks, and my friends call me Stake"

"OK Stake, what do you have so far?" Kate asks as she and Rick both place shoe covers on their feet and don evidence gloves

"The Door was not forced…"

"So he let someone in?" Rick remarks

"Yes. There is also a dinner over there" Stake points at the food service cart

The three move further into the room Kate notices that the meal was finished "I looks like he had has his dinner then moved to the couch…"

"That is what we believe"

"And he was expecting company" Castle points toward the wet bar. "There are two glasses set out"

Stake looks that direction "But no liquor is there beside them"

Kate has been looking around then walks to the food service cart "But there is a new bottle if Kentucky whiskey here" she points at the shelf "He WAS expecting company"

"Maybe the company decided she did not want his company after all?" Castle remarks

Kate's phone rings. The call is from the commissioner once more "Sir?" she answers then listens for a minute "Yes sir, I understand. We are just getting started…yes the local police are being very co-operative" she looks at Stake "If you can keep them at bay we might actually be able to do our jobs better…thank you sir…we will call and keep you updated"

Beckett hangs up on the call with the Police Commissioner then looks at her husband then the local detective "The feds are trying to get involved. Since the company developed software for the government, all the three letter agencies all want to get in on the action"

Detective Drake shows his dislike for that comment "Can we keep them away?"

"My commissioner said he will try today, but he told them if we or my team in New York find any proof of data breach we will let them know"

"Can they tell that?"

"If it was determined that there might have been an attempt at a breach of the servers they could, but they are isolated and cannot be reached from the outside. Only someone inside the building and on the isolated network can do that. Since the software his company created is extremely critical to national security and the information in his offices is considered 'Classified' if a breach like that occurs all the three letter agencies all want to get involved. A team from the CIA showed up and they tried to claim jurisdiction and takeover the investigation"

"That is normal." Rick points out "The feds don't normally like to share either"

"We were there first and Esposito shows them the door" Beckett answers

Stake looks at these two "I like you and your team already.

* * *

 **Just to introduce a very important player**


	11. Chapter 11

Rick, Kate, and their newfound friend Detective Drake, also known as Stake, are covering the room inch by inch. With the knowledge these three possess they will not miss any important detail

Rick and Kate start in the bedroom. Since he does have a bit of a history, albeit it very ancient history, he does know what evidence to look for to determine if the victim was alone or possibly entertaining some company in the hours prior to his death.

Kate checks out the bedroom while he begins in the bathroom looking for proof of there being a lady and he does find that proof. He finds an open box of condoms. He checks to see how many are missing to determine how entertained the victim might have been.

He also finds an extra, hotel issued, toothbrush standing in a glass on the bathroom counter. Another proof of a second person using the facilities. He is looking around for a woman's suitcase or at the least a cosmetic bag, but one is not located

He moves out to the bedroom where his wife is searching. "Find anything babe?" Kate asks without even looking up as if she has gained a sixth sense of her husband's presence

"Just that our victim did have a lady guest in the hours prior to his demise"

"I wonder if she came with him?"

"There is no other evidence of her presence such as clothes, garment bag, or even a cosmetic's bag. Was there anything here?"

"No" Beckett responds as she is opening the bedside drawers "What proof, then, do you have of a woman's company?"

Pointing his thumb at the bathroom door "Open box of condoms with two missing"

"So he came prepared?"

"I would agree except this was a new box…probably bought right here in the gift shop. This IS a FULL service hotel after all"

His remark gives a Kate a small smile "I wonder if that service included furnishing the entertainment"

"You know that is possible since he did drop a lot of cash here for this little shindig"

"True" Kate responds "But he still might have brought them from home"

"No. Probably not"

Beckett looks at her husband "And why would that be?"

"He would have just dropped a handful in his suitcase. Planning ahead so as to not need to spend time purchasing a new box interrupting a passionate moment"

Kate stops and walks back to her husband. She gets right in his face "And where is this little bit of knowledge coming from?"

He feels her hot breath on his face

"UH…I…Uh…Ancient history?"

"Not recent events?"

Gulp "NO!"

"It better be long ago ancient history…since you have not required that particular item be packed for a trip in a very, very longtime"

After a poignant moment of silence she starts to smile

"OH! I see what you're doing…you're trying to push my buttons…well it's not working"

She turns her back to him and resumes her searching "Seems to be working just fine"

Before Castle can react to her tease, Detective Drake enters the room "Have you found anything?"

Beckett responds first "Nothing of interest in the bedroom so far but the bathroom had a few items of interest"

Then Castle answers "He had a guest. There is an extra toothbrush in the bathroom and an open box of condoms"

Stake looks into the bathroom door toward the counter "We will get the Crime Lab to try and pull DNA from the toothbrush. What about the condoms? Anything special about them? You know neon colors or…?"

Beckett almost wants to laugh seeing the hard cop, former military trying to drop a note of humor into the conversation

Rick responds "No just plain protection" then looking at his wife who seems to be trying not to laugh

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Detectives Ryan and Esposito have looked around the offices of CI Software and it appears that the break in appears to be nothing be a routine burglary. Desks were ransacked. Desk top computers stolen.

Ryan has been interviewing the office staff. He is talking to Rod Brady, a senior programmer "Was there classified programs on any of the machines?"

"No. The computers were set up almost like the old dumb terminals. For two reasons. One an event like this and nothing important is taken and two no one can copy from the servers to a local flash drive or disk"

"There terminals had no ability to copy data and take it?" Esposito joins the conversation

"No. These machines could not even send or receive e-mail. They could only talk to the servers"

Ryan glances around the room "Where are the servers? We did not see any other systems inside the offices"

"Oh! They are kept safe in a bank vault up on the top floor of this building"

"How are you protecting the data from sniffers? The hackers can listen in on the copper wires of a network" Ryan points out

"The feed is fiber and it is scanned regularly and certified to be tap free"

"Can we go see them and make sure all is well?"

"We will need the authorization of one of two people"

"I assume Charles Ivy is one of them?" Esposito remarks "And he is dead. so who else can open the vault?"

The young programmer seems nervous "The Chief Technical Officer. She is the only other person with the codes to get in"

"And what is her name and where can we find her?"

"Her name is Nancy Hopkins and we tried to find her but she is not answering her phone"

Ryan looks at the young man "Where does she live?"

"I will call our HR director and get that for you"

"Thank you"

After the call is made to HR and they are waiting for the answer, Ryan continues his canvas "does Nancy have a husband, boyfriend, partner?"

"Uh not that I know about. She keeps pretty much to herself. Most of her times is spent with Mr. Ivy working on plans for new software or upgrades to what we have already released"

The phone rings with the call from HR and Rod answers and begins writing notes

While waiting, Ryan looks back to Esposito "So what is this? Is it tied to the death of Ivy? Is it a data breach or just a plain old B&E"

"Good question"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The HR department has provided the address of Nancy Hopkins. They arrive on her floor of a nice loft apartment in midtown

"Must pay well to write software for the government" Esposito comments as they knock on the ornamented door

"A lot of these computer geeks make tons of money "He points at the well-trimmed hallway "and they get to live like this"

"Yeah"

After several minutes with no answer, Ryan goes to find security to have them open the door. It takes several minutes of conversations about warrants and illegal searches but the two detectives convince the building manager that they are only checking on her wellbeing and not looking for evidence in a crime

The door is opened and the two detectives enter to find a well-cared for living area. Nothing seems out of place.

They check out the entire unit and find no evidence of possible problems

Ryan comes out of the bedroom and speaks to the manager "Does she have a boyfriend?"

"Why" The manager asks

"There are men's clothes in the closet and shaving supplies on the counter. She seems to have a regular man here"

"We pride ourselves in being discrete for our tenants and try to keep their privacy a top priority"

"Well we are concerned about her safety right now since their business has been broken into and she seems to be missing and her boss has been murdered in Westchester where he was at a reunion"

The manger reacts to that statement "HER BOSS? Charles Ivy?"

"Yes" Esposito notices the manager's response "What do you know?"

"Her boyfriend is or rather was Mr. Ivy"


	12. Chapter 12

**This chapter ends with some darkness**

* * *

Beckett, Castle, And Drake have returned to the first floor while the local Crime Scene units are sweeping the room looking for any evidence that might help in the investigation

On the lobby level they approach the manager "We are needing to interview all the people who are here for the class reunion. Can we utilize an office or some other space?" Beckett asks

The manager tells them that they could use one of the empty meeting rooms. They need to set up as an office to conduct interviews and discuss the case. They only need a table and a couple of chairs as they will be bringing in most of Beckett's classmates to find out if one of them is the suspect or what they know about Ivy's murder

While they are getting a table and some chairs Kate's phone rings. Caller ID indicates 'Kevin Ryan' is on the line

"Hey, Ryan"

"Hey Beckett. Listen we went to CI software and they had been pretty much trashed"

"Was the software compromised?"

"Not that we can tell. But the offices tossed and the computers stolen"

"Wouldn't that mean the programs were compromised?"

"No. The programmer we met with said the workstations did not have the program. The software is on the servers"

"Where is that?"

"In a bank vault"

"Have you checked on them?"

"We a are trying to get in but Charles Ivy and the Chief Technical Officer are the only two who can access the room"

Beckett makes the obvious observation "Well Ivy is dead. Can you get the CTO?"

"We have not been able to find her. We went to her apartment but she is not there and the doorman said she left yesterday early and has not been back. She is missing

"Do you think there is fowl play involved?"

"We simply can't be sure but we have put out an APB on her"

Kate takes out her note pad "Give me her name and description and if she shows up here, I will let you know"

Ryan's next words brings surprise to Kate's face "Nancy Hopkins"

"What did say? Did you say Nancy Hopkins?"

"Yeah, why?" Ryan does not understand Beckett's response

"She is here…or at least she was here yesterday. In fact I met her. She was vey,,, angry about something. She seemed to have a bitter taste about men. She kept ranting about how men only want one thing from a woman"

Ryan finishes that remark "And we all know what that is?"

"Yeah. Listen. She may still be here. Castle and Detective Drake and I will look into that and we will get back to you"

"Got it boss"

Beckett ends the call and then looks back to her husband who has been busy setting up tables and moving chairs

"Hey babe" Kate speaks loud enough for her husband to hear

Rick stops moving furniture and walks to his wife.

Stake also notices the pet name she called Castle and smiles. He actually finds it sweet that these two are so together. What he has not told them is that he not only was a fan of Derrick Storm, but Nikki Heat as well. Over the years he found information on the love story that surrounded Castle and Beckett and how the media had played the game looking for cracks in the romance but were never able to find any crack in the love

And their loving banter is so reminiscent of his younger years. And the loss he suffered back so long before.

He mentally rejoins the conversation as Kate continues telling about her conversation with her team in New York "The offices of CI were robbed but whoever did it did not get to the servers"

"Why not?" Drake asks

"They are locked in a bank vault in the building so they were protected. Outside the bank itself, only Charles Ivey and his CTO, Nancy Hopkins can get in the vault"

Rick reacts "NANCY HOPKINS? Really? She is his partner in the business?"

"Yeah" Kate answers

"Then what was that rant last night about men?"

Listening to the pair "What Rant?" Detective Drake wonders

"She came up to me last night ranting about men and how they only want one thing from women"

Rick fills in "And she had a few ugly things to say about my wife"

"Things that I never did. In fact I don't even remember her" She looks at Rick "Castle…they had a school annual out on the table last night. If it is still there, I want to go get it and see if I can find her picture? I would like to see if she really was in our class?"

"OK" Rick responds as she turns and leaves the room

Once Beckett is out of sight Drake looks over to Castle "You have a beautiful wife there"

"Thank you. She has been a god send to me. She came into my life when I was at a low point and brought me up. We have been married over ten years and have two children together and my daughter considers Kate her mom…so all is well in my world"

A blank look crosses Drake' features "I wish I had that"

"Maybe you will one day"

The detective moves to a solemn expression and he then has a blank look on his face in response

Kate re-enters the room almost immediately holding a well-worn school annual from her high school days. She rushes over to the table, sets it down, and opens the book. She starts looking from page to page trying to find the picture she is seeking, but to no avail "She was NOT in our class"

"So why was she on such a rant last night?" Castle asks

Kate looks up to her man "Maybe she and Ivy had a fight…"

Castle follows "And maybe, just maybe they had a fight that ended in his death"

"We found no indication of anyone else in the room" Drake states

"She would have cleared her stuff out…" Kate remarks

Castle finishes "and would be gone before morning:

"We need to check with the hotel and see if she came with him"

The three leave the room and head toward the desk. When they arrive, Kate approaches the clerk "Was Mr. Ivy alone when he arrived last night?"

The desk clerk looks at the computer screen "He did ask for two room cards so I assume he was with someone"

"Can you check for activity on the card keys?" Drake questions

Once again, the clerk references the monitor "Both cards were used just after check-in. That is pretty normal. Usually one enters the room and the other goes for ice or beverages and enters once more, later" looking again at the screen "but that was the last time card number two accessed until about 10:15 when it was used to enter the room again. Card one did enter until about midnight, then the next room activity was when security entered this morning"

"Will you give me a printout?" Beckett asks and the clerk goes in to a back room to get the report. She looks aback at the two men "Nancy Hopkins did go in the room right after we saw her at last night at the party. She could have waited for him and then they had a fight and she killed him"

"She must have packed and left right after that"

When the clerk returns Beckett asks her "Did she come down to get another room?"

Another glance at the screen "No. She did not but we were full, so if someone came later they would be turned away"

"Thanks" Kate responds then the three turn to leave when Castle looks at Kate "Hotels always have a contingency plan" he looks back to the clerk "Some other hotel nearby that might have rooms"

He looks at the clerk "Where would you recommend travelers go when you are full?"

"Oh. The Best Travelers Inn. They are only a mile down the road"

Beckett steps back to the desk "Do you have their phone number?"

The clerk hands Beckett a card with the nearby hotels and the phone numbers "Thank you"

The three walk back to the meeting room where they have set up "Let's call and see if she might have gone there last night?" Kate remarks while looking at Detective Drake "You are local. It probably be best if you make the call"

"Not a problem" and the local detective takes out his phone, dials the number, and steps out into the hall

Just as he exits the room Beckett's cell rings. She look at the screen "It's Esposito" sliding her finger across the screen "Hey Javi. I'm putting you on speaker. You have anything?"

"We do have a problem…"

"What's that?"

"The computer servers were compromised and the hard drives stolen. When we got into the vault all the drives were missing"

"I thought that only Ivy and Hopkins were able to get in?" Castle remarks

"They were the only ones from the computer company but the computer were in the bank vault"

"So how did someone get in?" Beckett questions

"They are not sure yet but we are getting a warrant for the security recordings and should have more by the morning"

"That will be great" Kate responds

"How is your investigation going? I guess you have a lot of suspects?"

"Actually only one right now. Nancy Hopkins. She was here but did not stay in the room with Ivy last night. It appears they had a fight and she left and went to another hotel"

"I guess I better let you go so you can chase that lead down?"

"No. actually a local detective is working on that Detective Stanly Drake"

There is a long pause on the other end of the call "did you say Stanley Drake?"

"Yeah Espo…why?"

"Big…white guy. Over 6'5 well built?"

"Yeah"

"Do they call him Stake?"

Castle chime in "How do you know him Javi?"

There is another pause in the answer "I don't know him…exactly."

"Espo, you have been out for a long time"

"I have heard about him from some bar parties with my former Special Forces guys. He is well respected in the teams"

Another long pause occurs "Did you hear how he got the name Stake?"

"I assumed it was short for his first name and last names" Beckett answers

"Not exactly" Comes from the other end of the line "Is he near?"

"No. He is out in the corridor talking to another hotel looking for Nancy"

"Keep this to yourself…OK?"

"Sure"

"He and was a team leader and was sent to save a school of orphans from terrorists. He was dating and engaged to another Army officer. She went in to keep the children calm since women seem to be able to do that in stressful issues…well they were met with a larger force than they expected. There was a terrible fire fight"

"Well, he got out?" Beckett remarks

"Yeah…HE got out. The rest of his team were killed and Stake was down to two rounds of ammunition. He went into the orphanage to find one insurgent holding an automatic weapon on all the children and another holding a knife to his fiance's throat"

"That was not good" Castle remarks

"He could only shoot one of the two terrorists"

"I think I know where this is going?" Kate states

"Yeah. He shot the one with the automatic weapon on the children and the other murdered his fiancé. In a rage he picked up a tent stake and drove it into the chest of the other man. Giving him the name Stake"

Castle and Beckett are standing in complete shock when they hear Detective Drake re-enter the room "I found her. She checked in to the Best Teraveler Inn last night"

"We need to go pick her up" Beckett states as she looks at her husband with pain on her face

"Yeah" Castle answers softly

.


	13. Chapter 13

"Why don't I go get her and bring her to the station where can do a proper interrogation?" Drake asks while he is looking at Castle and Beckett. They are both trying to hide the emotions building up inside both of them

The local officer turns and heads out of the hotel meeting room out to the police cruiser waiting in front

Kate is finally able to respond. "That will be great" then softly to herself "Castle and I have something to take care of fist" and louder once more "and we will meet you there"

"Great Drake says over his shoulder. I will let the desk sergeant know you are coming" and the local detective walks out the door

When he sits down in his police car he looks toward the hotel and talks to himself "I wonder if those two know how much they have with each other?"

Without another word, Rick takes Kate's hand squeezes her fingers then she begins pulling his arm and the two walk to the elevator. They ride in silence to their floor and continue to their room.

After the door closes behind them, Kate turns to face her husband. She pulls her arms around him then she lays her head down on his chest

He drops his arms around her back he pulls her tighter than he ever has and then speaks softly "I don't know what I would do if I lost you like that"

She can only nod her head in agreement. After just a moment she pulls her head back up "If he loved her only a tiny bit as much as I love you, I would have just wanted for us to die together"

She turns toward the bedroom, and pulls him with her. There is no wild raging, screaming. No clothes flying around the room. The next thirty minutes are spent in the most gentle, soft, unhurried round of lovemaking these two have ever had.

She has her head on his shoulder with her hair brushing his nose exactly like she knows he enjoys when she finally speaks "We rarely fight but if some terrible horrible event separated us permanently, then this is how I want to remember our life together"

"Me too"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

They arrive at the police station as agreed, to find Detective Drake waiting for them. But Nancy Hopkins is nowhere in sight "Where is our suspect?" Beckett asks

"She was not at the hotel. They said she had not checked out but her bag and her clothes were not in the room"

"So do we know if she is planning to return?"

"Evidently not" Drake responds "But I put an officer on the hotel to let us know if she does. I just hope she is not another victim and has not been murdered also"

"Great" Beckett responds just like she would if she were standing with Ryan and Esposito "That would make this even worse"

At that moment Beckett's phone rings. She pulls it out of her pocket "Its Ryan" sliding the screen "Hey Ryan. I'm putting you on speaker. We are here with Detective Drake. What do you have?"

"Well, boss it just got worse"

"How could it get much worse?" Beckett looks at her husband then at Drake

"The servers that were compromised and the hard drives pulled out from the vault"

Castle comments first "Right. Espo told us. No one knows how that happened"

"We got the security footage and you will never guess who the only people were to enter and leave the vault during the time window"

"Who Ryan?" Beckett asks with her usual tone when he is trying to get her to guess

"Oh come on Beckett. Who can get into a bank vault without being questioned?"

A knowing look appears on both Beckett and Castle's faces and they speak at the same moment "Armored Car guards"

"Give those two a prize" Kevin has a smile in his voice "What is really odd is the security footage shows a regular Armored Car vehicle pull into the dock. but two men exit the rear and go inside the corridor and head to the security desk. They signed in just as they normally would. Spoke to the guard at the desk and just walked in like they belonged there"

"Does he remember what the two men looked like?"

"No. Too many people pass through the security center every hour and he does not pay attention when it is a routine activity but what is more strange is the bank confirmed there was no money bag delivery or pick up scheduled at that time or even that day, but since Armored cars are so prevalent around banks and other business in the building…"

Again, in sync "No one noticed"

"We need to talk to the armored car company and find out who was driving that vehicle"

"That is another problem"

"What Ryan?"

The camera could not pick up the name on the truck. It looked like it was just a blur and no one remembers seeing the vehicle

Both Kate and Rick remark again in sync "Too normal

There is a phone ringing in the background and they hear the voice of their Hispanic partner "Esposito…" after a pause "That is great news. Thanks" the voice comes closer to Ryan "Hey they found a traffic camera near the entrance that shows the armored car entering and leaving"

"Who was the Armored Car company?" Castel finally questions

"Gordon's Armored Car Service"

"That is the same company that we found the fake truck" Beckett remarks "Contact them and make sure it was one of theirs?"

"And if it is?"

"They have GPS tracking on all the trucks so they can tell who was driving it" Esposito answers just as his phone rings once more

"Esposito…" he listens for a moment "…she did? Great! Bring her in" he hangs up on the call on his phone and returns the conversation Ryan has connected with Beckett and Castle "Nancy Hopkins just arrived back at her apartment. We have the uniforms bringing her in"

"OK guys. Question her on the murder and get back to me on the armored truck. We will continue to work the murder of Charles Ivy from this end. We will probably connect her to his killing and we will have her in custody when that happens"

Kate disconnects her phone and looks first at her husband with a smile on her face then over to the local detective.

Detective Drake has watched a fine-tuned machine at work with Castle, Beckett, and her two partners in New York. He can't help but be impressed

"So, Captain" looking at Kate "do we wrap up and go home? It sounds like you have our primary suspect in custody"

"We never stop until we have ALL the evidence and a confession" she looks at Rick "someone once told me that the evidence isn't everything and he has proven that point many times when it comes to suspects. We have actually entered a murder scene and found the one holding the gun to be innocent" Rick feels Kate smiling at him. She is thinking about the time Ryan, Espo, and her entered a murder scene and found Castle holding a gun over the victim

"That sounds good Captain. We still have not received all the DNA and trace from the crime scene. So, until we get that, what do you want to do?"

Castle looks at his watch "It's lunch time. How about you pick out a great eating place and I buy lunch?"

"Sounds good to me" Drake turns to the chair and takes his jacket and the three leave the station

/\/\/\/\

Settling into a comfortable booth at a local diner the three are chatting about nothing in particular. Rick and Kate make sure to avoid any conversation that might bring memories back to their dinner companion

"I guess you two probably heard about how my nickname came about?"

Castle and Beckett look at one another not sure how to answer that when, finally, Rick responds "I assumed it was a combination of your first and last names 'Stanley Drake…Stake"

The man seems to go solemn before responding then thinks before answering "That is not how it happened."

Then as if fate has intervened Kate's phone rings "Beckett" once more Esposito and Ryan are on the line. Kate puts it on speaker phone

"Beckett. The armored car service is not missing any vehicles. They were all accounted for during the event. None of them were even near the bank"

"Are they sure?"

"Positive"

"What about a rogue employee stealing one of the trucks and disable the GPS?"

"It is well protected and operates on its own battery. The moment the main power is interrupted it sends out an alert."

"So, if it is not the real thing…" Beckett remarks "we looking for another fake truck then?"

"Exactly?" Ryan responds "We are looking for another fake truck"


	14. Chapter 14

The interrogation room at the 12th precinct has changed greatly over the last more than a dozen or so. The walls have been beaten and patched. Acoustic panels replaced and repainted more times than anyone cares to discuss. The lights changed from the original incandescent bulbs, to florescent lamps, and now the newest and most efficient LED.

The table shows its age with the scratches and dents along with the chairs now bent from repeated slamming into the table legs and an occasion al kicked over by either the suspect of Beckett, herself proving a point

Even the officers that are using the room changes between shifts each day and to older officers retiring and being replaced by young hot shots newly advanced detectives with a desire to break every suspect down to a confession…

But one thing stays the same. The person sitting opposite the officer is the one claiming that "I didn't do it"

Today is going to be no different.

The woman at the table is most likely the murderer and the two officers preparing entry into the room are determined to get a confession from her. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

The woman is startled when the door quickly swings open and she is faced with two very stern looking men, One Hispanic and the other probably Irish Catholic from his hair color and Irish features

They both sit down across from her. The Hispanic officer drops a file folder on the table just as the other man speaks "This is Detective Javier Esposito and I am Detective Kevin Ryan"

With a name like that she knows he definitely is Irish "Yes gentlemen. What can I do for you" she responds thinking they are wanting to talk about the break-in at the offices of CI Software.

"We are investigating a murder"

Now that remark takes her off base quickly "I did not know anyone was killed at the break-in. Who was it? The bookkeeper? She sometimes comes in on Saturday to finish some accounting task"

Thinking she is just diverting the conversation away from the real murder Ryan responds "So the some of the staff are there on the weekends?"

"Yes sometimes. Robin comes in for a little but…you know, while it is quiet, to finish accounting data entries. This is awful" The suspect seems truly shocked

Esposito decides to just go for the jugular vein "No. Ms. Hopkins. Your boss is the victim. Charles Ivy was murdered and you are the prime suspect"

"WHAT?" she screams and in what appear to be real, tears flow down her face "How could he be dead? I was with him yesterday. We went to his class reunion. He was fine"

"Ms. Hopkins" Ryan begins the next lines of questions "You were checked-in with him at the hotel, yet you left around 11:00 and went to a neighboring hotel to stay…WHY?"

She looks really scared now "Charles and I had a fight and I left to go somewhere else to get away from him" Realizing that made her sound guilty "I left him in the ballroom and went to the room, grabbed my stuff and left. It was easy. I had not really unpacked"

"So, you left him in at the party and threw your clothes back in your bag and just left the hotel?"

"What few things I had unpacked. We got there a little late and I had changed into the dress for the cocktail party. After our fight, I went back and sis not even change. I left and went to a nearby hotel"

"Did you check out of that hotel?"

"No. They let you leave your key in the room and just leave, so I did"

Esposito return to the main line of questions "Mr. Hopkins, what was the fight about?"

"Charles using me then dumping me for another woman"

"What do you mean using you?"

"Charles and I created the software that the company sold. In fact, I wrote the algorithm that it uses to determine if something is a virus and create a patch to run and stop it from damaging a system. He never could get his code to work right so we joined forces. We later became a couple but…"

She stops when something enters her thoughts keeping her form finishing

"But what Ms. Hopkins?" Ryan asks

"He always had a wondering eye. When we first got together he was still the dorky computer nerd. After we started making money he had his teeth fixed. Got laser surgery on his eyes and began working out in the gym. I was proud to be his girlfriend but he always wanted more"

"More women?"

"Oh yeah. He always talked about this one woman that he went to school with. She was always nice to him even when no one else would. He thought he might get her to like him. He said she was beautiful and every guy had the hots for her wanted to be with her"

Ryan finally asks "Who was she?"

"Kate Beckett. He wanted her and when he saw her at the reunion, he started focusing on her. I was jealous and went over and cursed her out for being such a tramp. I should not have done that, but I was angry and jealous"

The two men look at one another then Esposito finally speaks "The woman you are referring to is Captain Kate Beckett, NYPD and our boss and happily married"

"OH!" Hopkins responds "I guess that makes me look even more guilty?"

"Definitely" Ryan answers "And then what did you do after that?"

"He just kept flirting with all the women and they were mostly lapping it up. I mean Charles is…or rather WAS good l0ookin…not to mention RICH."

Esposito break in "So you had good reason to kill him?"

"NO! I couldn't watch him hitting on all the women. That is when I went to the room, grabbed my stuff, and left"

"You did not wait for him in the room and kill him later…THEN leave?"

"No. I left to go cool off. I checked into the Best Traveler Inn for the night then I came back here this morning"

Looking at the file Esposito finally remarks "Ms. Hopkins, we are going to hold you on suspicion of murder. You might want to get an attorney"

"OK! But what about my staff at the office? You said there was a break-in. Was anyone hurt there?"

Her evident concern for the staff is playing well on her part.

"No one was hurt but the computers were taken"

"So, the workstations were all? That means they did not get the programs themselves" She remarks more of a statement than a question

"No" Ryan answers "The servers' hard drives were also taken"

"HOW?" she again seems extremely concerned "They were locked in a bank vault. Charles and I were the only two who had access"

Rather than give her the answer, the detectives respond "That is information in evidence and we cannot divulge it to anyone at this time"

Ryan stands and motions to a female uniformed officer to come in and take Nancy Hopkins to holding. They can hold her for 24 hours pending formal charges

Back in the conference room they use as an office whenever they are at the 12th precinct, the two are comparing notes and getting ready to call Beckett when Esposito's phone rings. Called ID says Beckett

He slides the answer button "Hey Beckett" he answers "I am putting you on speaker"

From the other end of the line comes their captain's voice "Doing the same here. What have you found? Is she the killer?"

Ryan answers first "I don't think so. She seemed truly shocked by his death"

"So why did she leave and go to another hotel?" Castle can be heard asking

"She was jealous of your wife"

There is a moment of silence then Castle asks "Jealous of Kate? Why?  
"It seems Beckett was the focus of a lot of the high school boys back in the day and he talked about her…"

Esposito finishes "AT LOT"

"Oh really? Is the questioning tone from the writer "Kate Beckett was the center of the boys in her class?"

Ryan and Esposito can just feel the jealously coming through the phone line when Kate can be heard answering

"I have no idea what they are talking about…" a noise is heard over the phone "CASTLE stop that" then more calm "What else? Why did you say she left?"

"He was flirting with several women evidently and she got tired of it. They fought and she left. She said that is when she checked in to the other hotel"

Over the phone line they can hear a man's voice "Hey we got…oh sorry, I di not know you were on the phone"

Castle's voice is next "Not a problem Stake, we are just building theory with Kate's team back in New York" Castle's tone changes "Guys. The voice you just heard is Detective Stanley Drake…also known a Stake"

Ryan and Esposito return the hellos over the phone then Castle continues "These are detectives Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito"

Drake responds "Good to meet you two…Dis you say Javier Esposito? The same Esposito that was in Special Forces?"

"Yes" Javi answers "I understand you were as well, but our paths never crossed"

"Yeah. I heard about you"

Esposito responds "You too Stake…I hope we can meet in person someday"

"Same here…listen the reason I came in. The preliminary DNA came back on that toothbrush we found. It belongs to a woman and it is NOT Nancy Hopkins"

After a moment of silence "Then who?" Everyone else states at the same moment

* * *

 **A query for the weekend**

.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the delay.**  
 **I have had one giant case of writer's block.**  
 **I am not totally happy where this story is headed but we ill try to fix it before someone**  
 **Important gets killed**

* * *

Kate Beckett has disconnected the call from her partners in the City.

They all sit in silence for a moment when Drake remarks "You work with Javier Esposito?" with a tone of envy

Beckett seems surprised by the question "Yeah. He is one of my lead investigators. Why?"

Drake seems to think for a minute as if he has to decide what he can or cannot say "Was he in the service?"

"Yeah. He does not say a lot but his personnel file says he was in Special Forces. He doesn't like to talk about it but I do know he was a sniper"

Castle pretends to not know about the reputation "Did you know him?"

"Not personally. He was well known though. He was one the heroes in the teams. Every unit wanted him and his spotter doing over watch when they were on a mission. He seemed to be able to spot the bad guys and take them out protecting our guys. He saved a lot of soldiers" His face seems to drift to another time "I wish I had him with me a time or two"

Rick and Kate can read each other's mind thinking about what was being said. A man, Drake, being impressed by a man that Rick and Kate have worked with for years who has a lot of history that Javi never uses for his personal benefit and especially wishing Esposito had been on the team when he went in to save the orphans

"We always knew he was special "Beckett remarks "but just not that much. Thank you detective for that information" then she looks at her husband who visually acknowledges the comment

Changing the subject Castle remarks about the current set of information "If Nancy was not in his room then who was? Who did the toothbrush belong to?"

Drake finishes the questions "And what does this all have to do with the break in and theft at CI Software?"

"We need to find the connection between Ivy and the people behind Gordon's fake armored cars" Kate remarks

"Did you say FAKE armored car?" Drake seems shocked

Beckett answers "Yeah. There was a fake armored car show up and this is not the first one"

"What do you mean?" Drake seems truly worried

"We had a crashed fake car a couple of weeks back"

"Crashed how?"

"We had a man stroke out while driving the truck and crashed into a bridge in New York. When we investigated, it turned out that the truck was fake. A salvaged truck frame with a false body attached painted to look like a legitimate armored car from the local service. We tracked the truck box and the frame, but nothing ever panned out. Every lead ended in a dead end"

"Was he an American?"

That specific question draws a look from Beckett "No. Actually he was not an American, but we also could find no evidence leading up to who he was or from where"

Drake looks off in the distance "He was murdered"

"No. Dr. Parish confirmed that he died of a stroke"

Rick and Kate suddenly see a change in their fellow investigator. It appears he is going back to his service days. The man looks around as if making sure no one is listening

"Listen. What I am going to tell you is classified and if any one were to discover I told you this we would all be in big trouble. In fact we might all just vanish without a trace"

Castle and Beckett are mesmerized and frightened at the same time but naturally Castle wants to know "What are you talking about?"

Drake motions the couple to follow him to a secluded back hallway where he looks back to the area they just left. Again like he believes they are being watched

"When we were in training for a special assignment at Fort…" He halts in his description of the specific location "tasked with assisting and training a group of military Special Forces from Europe. They would not tell us where. But they all had accents like the Baltic States. They were working on an operation involving bringing down a drug cartel"

"What does that have to do with an armored car in New York?"

"We came up with the idea of creating a vehicle the cartel would not even look at twice"

"Like how?" Kate asks

"The drug cartels handle a huge amount of cash and they put it into banks that tend to look the other way when asked where the money came from. Drug money comes in to the bank in bags just like a regular transaction then are picked up by the armored cars and taken out of the country.

Beckett finishes the thought "Therefore laundering the cash"

"They have it all in cash. So, the higher ups had the agents build a transport vehicle that looked like an armored truck the banks used to move money. We helped train the men"

"What was the plan?" Beckett asks

"It was a Trojan Horse. The government agents pulled up to the bank and pretended to be from the cartel to pick up the cash. The cartel did not know the money was taken until weeks later. They had lost millions of dollars, putting a dent into their business"

"Do you think the break in at CI software is related?" Castle asks

Drake looks around again "CI software made more than just anti-virus software"

"Software like what?"

"To be able to create software preventing break-ins, you have to know how to do the break in's"

"Are you saying that Charles Ivy was making software to fool the cartels into thinking the money had been deposited in the off-shore accounts?"

"Not just that. The malware was a sniffer program. It monitored the money coming in and told the government what bank the money was deposited in"

"So, what do you think…" Castle starts "The Cartel's came after Ivy and his company?"

Kate continues Rick's thought "That would be like them to punish anyone who was involved"

Rick adds "So they steal the hard drives to get the information as to who was involved…

Kate continues the thought "…and what happened to their money"

"And take out anyone involved"

Castle and Beckett respond together "The Cartel killed Ivy"

Silence fills the room then Kate starts back up "We need to find the woman he spent the night with. She may have seen the killer"

Drake adds "She might also have been taken somewhere and killed"

"I think we will start with my old classmates. I will contact the coordinator and get the list of attendees and we can start"

Beckett's phone rings again. Caller ID is Esposito "Hey Espo. What's up?"

After a brief pause "WHAT? WHO? WHEN?"

She listens and then turns to the other two men "NSA showed up and took my team off the investigation at CI Software. An Agent Ron Blackwell took all the evidence and shut us down"

Drake look at Kate "Did you say Ron Blackwell?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"That was the name of my CO. When I was discharged, he tried to get me to join a private security contractor"

Castle looks at his wife "What if he is not really NSA?"


	16. Chapter 16

"Captain Beckett, Mr. Castle…if you will excuse me, I need to make a phone call" Detective Drake makes a quick exit leaving Rick and Kate sitting in silence

"What just happened?" Rick questions

"I have a feeling this case has just taken a deep plunge into the world of classified secrets and ghosts"

"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts" Rick chides his wife gently

"Not the same ones you do"

"Hum"

"Babe, I think we need to go back and look at my former classmates. I will contact Caroline Nady and get that attendee list"

The two leave the room and go back to the reunion check in table to see about getting the list

Once there, the person at the desk contacts Caroline and asks her to come to the lobby that Captain Beckett and her husband wanted a copy of the list of attendees

While they are waiting the two are looking out the front windows at the blue sky and high clouds making the day even more gorgeous than the day before

Kate leans into her husband's side and places her head against his arm "I had planned to spend time alone with my man and not investigation a murder"

He leans over and kisses her across the temple "I know. I did too, but just think about all the foreplay we are getting by having to solve this case"

A smile crosses her lips and she whispers "True"

A voice appears behind them "Kate. I understand you needed to see this"

Rick and Kate turn around to see Caroline standing behind them holding a set of papers "This is the list of everyone that came to the reunion"

Beckett takes the list from the woman "Thanks, I will get this back to you"

"Oh, no need. It is a copy of my master list"

Beckett nods her head "Thanks anyway"

The other woman stands quietly for a moment then "Kate. Do you really think Charles was murdered by one of the people on that list?"

"We have to look at all the options"

Another patch of quiet "You know Kate, when we were in high school, I never imagined you becoming a police officer"

"Yeah I know" Kate responds. It is far from what I thought about while in school"

"Yeah Kate. After all the things you did back then, being on this side of the law was the farthest from where you were."

Kate suddenly realizes her husband might hear tales from her past. Tales that might just shake things up in ways she never considered when she was younger

"You know Caroline, I was young and impetuous back then"

"We all were" the woman responds "Just, you were such a rebel"

Beckett realizes the color has completely left her face and the walls seem to be moving

"Some of the things you did in school. If you had been caught…"

"Well, I was just not thinking about the future might bring to me"

"OH yeah" Caroline again remarks "You went from being my fellow classmate and the wild teenager to being where we are now"

Castle finally decides it is time to get a few facts about his wife. Maybe another layer of the Beckett onion that he continually loves to peel off. He looks at her and sees her face is fixed "What is she talking about Kate?"

"Rick…" she looks at the man she loves more than anything "I just did some silly kid stuff"

"Yeah. Kid stuff that would have got you expelled"

"Kate. If you had been expelled, your mom and dad would have…"

"They would have killed me. But I promise what I did was just a prank"

Caroline laughs out loud "You call evacuating Bed Sty High school and causing a full blown chemical spill and hazmat response from the fire department a PRANK?"

Silence issues from the room then Castle finally gathers his wits "You caused a full blown hazmat response form the fire department? What in the world did you do?"

"Well…there is a funny story to go along with that"

"I am sure the FDNY probably did not think it was very funny"

She looks up at her husband with Doe eyes pleading for understanding "I panicked"

"PANICKED? I am sure evacuating the school caused a panic for all your classmates"

Caroline comes to Beckett's rescue "Everyone knew quickly it was a prank…"

"They knew Kate did it?"

"No. But everyone was glad to get early release that day. We were having exams and they knew that there was no way this was anything but a prank"

"Kate, what did you do? What happened? And how did you evacuate the entire high school and cause a chemical spill alert and bring on a hazard materials spill?"

Kate drops he head paying careful attention to her boots "I uh…there was this…you know an English Lit exam that I had not studied for. I spent the night before going to a rave. I didn't get home until just before sunrise. I was wasted and I was not in any condition to take the test and…"

She looks up at her husband. She can tell he is waiting for the answer to what happened and not her fear of repercussions

"Beckett. The stature of limitations passed way before I even met you. What did you do?"

Dropping her head back down "OK Rick. I got a hold of a bottle of **tert-Butylthiol…"**

Everyone can see Castle thinking a minute, then. "KATE! That's the chemical they put in natural gas lines to make the horrible odor during a leak"

Caroline laughs "That's what it's called? All I know is when we started smelling that natural gas smell the school administration evacuated the building and we spent the next few hours watching the fire department search every nook and cranny looking for a busted gas main"

Kate looks up at her husband through her long eyelashes and she sees something he has given her so many times. A look of love mixed with awe and she knows he is thinking of some devilish response to use on her

Leaning close to her ear "I am beginning to think I am finally reaching that inner layer of the Beckett onion I have tried to peel for so many years

She continues to look at her man "UM! You just think you know? I promise there is more I will NEVER tell you about" she kisses him on the cheek

Castle looks back to Caroline who has been watching these two play their version of the game of love she returns to her description of why Kate is the honoree

"You know, Kate, that from your rebel days to losing your mother and returning to New York and joining the NYPD…."

Kate is confused now "You knew about that?"

"Kate, what you have done since high school is why we are honoring you later. Youngest female to make detective…"

This brings back memories of Captain Gates remarks

Caroline looks at Rick "Then you get a famous mystery writer following you" she looks back at Kate "Made me envious of your life, by the way…"

Now Beckett's face is turning red and she gives a smile

"You made the cover of Cosmo? I mean really Kate? Highest case closure rate in the department. Then you got this guy to fall in love with you…" pointing at Rick "get an entire series of mystery books written about you…get married to the guy…two children. A step daughter who is a doctor… now you're a captain"

Kate's face goes even redder than before

"Kate. The reunion committee did not have any trouble naming you the winner"

Beckett smiles at her former classmate "Thank you Caroline"

"You are more than welcome" The woman turns to leave "Oh and I promise we are saving the episode of what you did to 'Peg Leg Pete' for the ceremony tomorrow"

And the chairwoman exits to the corridor, leaving a panicked Kate standing looking at her husband once more

"There is an interesting story to go along with that one too"


	17. Chapter 17

**We are getting closer to finding out who killed our victim. This has no major angst to leave for the weekend, just the same mystery**

* * *

Kate is saved by the bell once again when her cell chimes indicating an incoming call. This one from Esposito

She swipes the screen "Beckett" Kate puts her phone on speaker and she listens intently for several heartbeats as Javier tells the duo that the NSA agents are leaving the city and heading to Westchester to take over the investigation on the death of Charles Ivy "WHTAT? They are coming here. This is not their case" Beckett remarks

"Yeah? Well they claim that they believe the murder is connected to the break-in and theft at CI Software and they want all the evidence you have waiting for them when they get there"

Castle has a dark look on his face "We have no proof that Ivy's death had any connection to the break-in. Everything still points to a woman that was with him overnight"

"But they don't need proof to come in and try to take over…Javi, are they flying or driving up here?"

"I think driving" Esposito responds, "I overheard one of the agents telling the others he had to stop for gas before leaving to come there"

Kate looks at Rick "We have maybe three hours to find the killer before they arrive" then directing the conversation toward her phone "Espo, call me if anything changes"

The voice from the other end replies "You got it" and the call disconnects

"Rick, I think we better get to work…what do we have so far?"

"A woman's DNA on a toothbrush"

"A woman who is not in the system"

"That means she has not been arrested or even been a suspect of a crime" Castle finishes the thought

After a fleeting moment of silence, he seems to get an idea at the same moment his wife does. They both remark at the same time "Can we track the cell phones?"

Kate looks at the list of attendees and starts looking at the names and contact information "Castle. You know that every one of these people have a cell phone. We will never be able to get warrants to ping even a few of these phones, let alone these phones"

Rick completely slumps as her comment sinks in "We do have to follow the rules. Don't we"

Kate slides her fingers across his cheek "Yes babe. I cannot just go and call each and every number here and ask them where they were, or ask permission to ping their phones to see where they were while Charles Ivy was being murdered"

Castle seems to look out toward the hallway "Too bad we don't have a hacker here like Charles Ivy to hack into the cell phone network and see where the phones were during the kill zone"

Kate suddenly looks at her husband, reaches up with both her hands and grabs him by his cheeks, pulls him in, and kisses him "This is why I love you so much Castle"

"What did I do?"

"You just gave me the possible solution" she grabs him by the hand "Come on" and she starts dragging him toward the lobby

"KATE! What are we doing?"

"Do you remember last year I went to a conference discussing problems the police departments are experiencing with technology?"

"Yeah. You came back telling me that it was not something you completely understood. They talked about network switches, computers, laptops, pads, telephones, and the police radio systems"

"RIGHT! Radio systems. A major problem police departments have been having all over the country is police and fire radios not working inside big buildings"

"Oh, yeah. I read something about that. The buildings have a lot of metal that blocks the radio signals"

"Right! And to fix the issue the codes were changed making the large buildings install a radio repeater system that takes the police and fire frequencies from outside and put antennas inside…"

Rick starts up again "So when police are inside a building their radios still work to the outside…"

"Right and since cell phones are just a different type radio system…"

"They suffer from the exact same problem…."

"And the big buildings have also installed cell phone repeaters for the benefit of the tenants…"

"Or hotel guests…"

"And maybe the building like this hotel have computers that manage the systems and just might keep track of the cell numbers using the antennas…"

"And we might get a cell phone number of someone who was with Ivy…

"Or more than one…"

"But what if they didn't make any calls?"

"It doesn't matter. People don't realize a cell phone sends out a ping every so often to let the cell system provider system know where it is so calls can go thru"

"Then the network here in the hotel should have a record of that"

The pair have reached the engineering department for the hotel and walk in the door. They come face to face with the building engineer. An 80-year-old man with a long mustache and grey hair "Can I help you?"

Rick and Kate are both concerned. They are looking at a man who probably has not accepted innovative technology since the invention of color television and that this may be an issue trying to get prominent level technology help from a man old enough to be Beckett's grandfather instead of a young nerd

"I am Captain Beckett, NYPD and this is Mr. Castle. We are working with the local police to solve the murder of one of your guests"

"Oh yes. Mr. Ivy. The staff was briefed on the event. What can I do to assist the police?" The man asks with a clear voice and strength in his face

"Beckett stutters a moment then "We were wondering if you have a cell phone repeater system in the hotel?"

"Oh yeah. A state of the art system. We can handle up to 100 simultaneous calls along with 5G data and one meg. dedicated to the internet. I have it isolated from our hospitality business system. We also installed a complete Bi-directional Amplifier system for use by the local Public Safety group. Does that help?"

Shocked by an older man with such knowledge of technology "We are hoping the cell phone repeater system has a log?" Beckett asks

"Yes, ma'am it does. Keeps cell phone numbers along with the called placed and calls received and time of call"

"Is the system in zones? Like a general section of the building or just everywhere?"

"Better than that. Due to the number of cell phone call that are made into and out of this building by guests, we have it zoned by floor and quad. I can tell you within a few feet where a call came from"

Standing in complete shock Beckett finally regains her senses "Can you look at the logs for the other night and see if there were any cell phone registered in the area of our victim's room?"

"You bet, captain" the man turns to his computer. This is when she realizes there are three monitors on the credenza behind him and two monitors on his desk top.

As he begins typing on the keyboard Castle touches Beckett's arm and points toward the monitors on the opposite table. The displays show air temperatures and power usage. There are icons indicating both guest room and corridor status. It is evident that this engineer is well versed in technology

"Let me see" he begins "There is a cell phone entering the zone about 10:30 with another just a couple of minutes later"

"do you have those numbers?"

"Yes ma'am, I do" Kate is not accustomed to being called ma'am. Most people she encounters are not so polite.

He reads off to Beckett the two numbers. She quickly scans the list "The first one belonged to Charles Ivy"

"That makes sense" Rick responds

She returns to look down the pages "And the second one belongs to…" She halts in her remarks and points to the page showing her husband

"REALLY?" Castle states "That explains the female DNA on the toothbrush. He WAS having a little tryst with someone from the reunion"

Kate finishes the thought and I am sure her husband came to deal with the situation"

Beckett looks back to the building engineer "Thank you so much. I think you may have solved our case"

"Well ma'am I hope so" he hands Beckett several pages from his printer "I went ahead and printed the report for that night. In case you need it"

"Thanks…uh. I did not get your name"

"The name's Gus. And I hope you catch whoever did this. It is not good for the hotel's reputation"

"Thank you again Gus"

"Let me know if I can help you again"

"We will"

Castle and Beckett head back out happy that they now have a suspect

* * *

 **I think two more chapters will finish this**

 **A part of what I wrote is actual technology.**


	18. Chapter 18

Castle and Beckett have headed from the engineering office and directly to the hotel room of the woman's whose phone was tracked to the victim's penthouse room.

When they arrive at the suite and knock they are met with silence

"I wonder if she has left the hotel and is running?" Kate remarks"

"We can ask at the desk and see if she checked out yet" Rick continues

Kate looks at Rick "Let's check first with the excursion list and see if she was scheduled to do something…"

"And if she showed up this morning" Rick finishes

The pair head back to the registration desk and approach the assistant "Did Yvette Chapman schedule for any excursion today?"

She looks over the list "Yes. Her and her husband were on the list to play golf"

"Do you know if she showed up to play?"

"Oh yes. I checked her in personally"

Kate looks at Rick "I wonder if she is still on the course?"

Once more the assistant speaks up "Oh she is still out there! Last time I talked to anyone, she is 5 strokes below the next player and is on the mark to win the grand prize"

Kate's face falls slightly then speaking softly to Rick "I don't think she would still be here if she was our killer"

"She would have already left" Rick remarks

"We know she was with our victim last night though"

"Or we believe she was. At least her phone was"

The assistant speaks once more "Oh, I saw her leave the ballroom just after Charles Ivy last night"

"What time was that?" Beckett asks

"Oh about 11:30 or so"

"That matches our time line" looking back to the woman "did you see her husband leave too?"

"It was even later. I mean a lot later. He was pretty drunk though when he did"

Kate looks back to Rick "OK we know she was with Ivy" Then Kate then looks back to the assistant "Did you see anyone else leave the ballroom after they did?"

"Only her husband. He was looking for her and got pretty agitated. I think one of the hotel staff had to escort him back to his room"

"So, he was that drunk?"

"Oh yeah"

Rick looks at Kate "I wonder if her were too drunk to have attacked Ivy?"

"Sounds like it" Kate looks at the assistant "Thank you and let us know if you think about anything else" Kate responds as her and Rick turn to leave

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Castle and Beckett are waiting in the meeting room the hotel has allowed them to use for the investigation. A uniformed officer has been sent to wait for the suspect and bring her to the pair when she returns from the golf course

Just looking at the notes they have made Kate's mind drifts back to the many…many times she has arrested a jilted lover or unknowing spouse for killing a paramour in an attempt to try to save the marriage or relationship

Rick can feel his wife's mind is rushing through the current case and he feels her thinking in his own heart and he moves to be closer to her "I am trying to understand how we get here so many times?"

A smile shows on her face "Yeah…I guess some couples can become disconnected, but I cannot understand how two people who love, or at least once were in love, go down to this level"

"Remember when we talked to the call girls about their clients?" Castle comments "She said it was not always about the sex. Most of the clients were missing the emotional connections not just the sex"

Kate steps up next to her husband and leans into his chest "I guess we are the exception? I have never felt like we lack emotional or an intimate connection" she looks in his face "And I hope I have filled all your needs?"

"No question…" He kisses her hair "Always"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

If it weren't for the investigation and the need to question the suspect within just a few minutes these two might have made a hasty retreat to the privacy of their room. But knowing they must strike while the iron is hot they pull apart and are waiting at the table when the uniformed officer arrives with Yvette in tow

Pointing at the chair across from the duo Kate begins with her strong cop mode "Yvette, we need to ask what happened last night?"

"What do you mean HAPPENED? Nothing happened. Why?"

"Kate pulls out the print out that Gus had given her earlier "We know you were with Charles Ivy in his room last night"

"What do you mean? With"

"I think you know what we mean" The interrogator in Beckett responds "You were in his room for over an hour. What happened? I mean besides sleeping with him?"

"Nothing happened"

"How long have you been sleeping with him?"

The woman realizes she is caught but she is going to make one last ditch effort to deny "I did not sleep with him last night"

Castle decides to chime in as he and his wife have done so many times "Then why is there a toothbrush found in his bathroom with female DNA…"

Beckett finishes "We are getting a warrant right now to compel you to provide a sample and I think it will prove it was yours"

Knowing she has no chance of getting out of the situation, she finally confesses "Yes. OK! I slept with him. He was good looking, rich, it was fun…and my husband has spent most of his time lately sleeping with groupies at concerts and no time with me. My husband was so drunk he did not even know I had left with Charles"

Kates looks once again at the page in front of her then showing the woman her husband's cell phone number showing up on the printout "Then why did he go to the room later?"

She ducks her head "He came to get me"

Kate lets the badass side of herself come out "And to kill Ivy for sleeping with his wife?"

"NO! NO! He did not kill Charles"

"You killed him then?"

Yvette's face goes red "No, Kate, he was very much alive when Ronnie and I left"

About this time there is a knock on the door to the meeting room and the local uniformed officer enters "The victim's partner need to see you. She said it is urgent"

"Listen, I need you to stay in the hotel until we get this sorted out"

"OK" Yvette responds as she stands and walks back out

Kate looks at the officer "Send Ms Hopkins in"

The uniformed officer leave the room and returns just a moment later escorting Nancy Hopkins

"What is it Ms. Hopkins that is so important that it couldn't wait?"

"I just got a call from our accountant. The company bank accounts are almost empty. We are close to bouncing checks all over the place. A lot of money is missing"

"How much money?" Rick asks

"Over twenty million dollars. All the reserves are gone and the operating accounts are very low. The money is just…Gone"

"Does the accountant know what happened to the cash?"

"She said it appears that Charles has been spending the money over the last few months"

"Spending it where?" Kate asks

"From what she can tell he has been using it to pay gambling debts"

"Did he have a problem with gambling?"

"Yes. In the past, he would bet on the horses, go to Atlantic City, or even fly to Vegas, but he had been working on the problem. I had encouraged him to go to Gamblers' Anonymous and I thought he was getting better"

Rick looks at Kate "I wonder if he paid off some of the bookies then this hotel and ran out of cash

"Maybe he still owed another bookie somewhere…" Kate chimes in

"And they sent in an enforcer…"

"But they wouldn't come to kill him, just to encourage payment…"

"That explains no outside weapon…"

"Ivy tried to defend himself with the lamp…"

"A fight ensued…"

"And the collection efforts turned into a murder?"

"We need to check the printout for another cell phone in the area"

Kate takes the paper "Here is a number that does not match the contact number of any of the attendees"

"That must be the one"

There is another knock on the door and a group of men enter without introduction "We are looking for Captain Beckett "

"That's me" Beckett responds

"I am Ron Blackwell and we are here to take over the investigation"

* * *

 **Sometimes the Feds just get in the way**


	19. Chapter 19

**To my readers who are trying to relate my "Murder In..." series to the canon time line. Do not even try**  
 **The stories of "A Murder..." are my own time line and not the canon.**

 **I don't do Canon.**

 **I left the canon many tales ago  
So here we are. Close to the end**

* * *

To say Kate Beckett is not pleased to see this man is a giant understatement. He is doing what the feds are so good at doing, and that is coming in blindly to a situation and thinking they are the answer to solving all the crimes when, in fact, they can be just another road block in the resolution

"Mr. Blackwell we do not…"

He cuts her off bluntly "That is Supervising Special Agent Blackwell, Captain"

"Well SPECIAL Agent Blackwell, we still do not need your help, we are about to close this case and we don't need your interfering"

"Interfering, captain? So you have a suspect in custody?"

"No. Not yet but we are…"

Once more the man interrupts Beckett "If you don't have a suspect in custody, do you know WHO the killer is?"

"No, we have information as to who…"

And, once again, she is not allowed to finish "Well then. Since you don't have anyone in custody nor do you know who it is, I think we need to take over from here. Your assistance is appreciated but we can finish this"

This man has never had the experience of facing an angry Kate Beckett "Listen Agent Blackwell! You may be good at whatever you do, for whatever agency you do it for, but I am more experienced and better at solving murders and this is just that! A plain old murder"

"And just how do you know that this is just a murder and not something more sinister?" is his response since he just got told he is not as good as he thinks he is

The badass Beckett kicks in "Because our victim was having a one night stand with one of my classmates' wife here at the reunion. He had a gambling problem and his business partner just told us that he had emptied the bank accounts to pay off his gambling debts, and we believe he still owed money to a bookie AND we believe they sent an enforcer to collect. we have the cell phone number of that person and are in the process of getting a warrant to find the owner of that number"

This federal agent has never encountered a local law enforcement officer so strong willed and ready to push back against the US government but he decides that listening to Beckett is still not in the best interest of his case. He decides to try a different tactic

Captain Becket, you are out of your jurisdiction and though we do appreciate your local wisdom I still think it is best if I continue to manage this case

A voice comes from the doorway "She may be out of her jurisdiction Colonel Blackwell, but I am not…" The voice of Stanly Drake comes booming in "and I requested her knowledge and experience to assist in this case, and she has proven to be what was needed here"

Hearing a voice from his past Ron Blackwell stops and turns to see an old former Special Forces officer entering the room "STAKE?" is the first word from the federal agent "I heard after you left the service you got involved in local law enforcement. I just never thought you would pick such a small department in an out of the way place to join"

"I picked this location because it is small and out of the way. I had enough of what we did back in the day and decided to finish my life quietly here"

Ron Blackwell has decided he might get much farther if he is not coming in like a bear ready to consume anyone who gets in his way to working with his former comrade "So Captain, you moved to the burbs? I never thought you would drop this far under the radar"

"The lower the better, Colonel. And I am NOT a captain here. I am just a detective and, unfortunately, this case did not stay low key enough"

"Yeah since Charles Ivy was probably murdered by the same people who broke in and stole the servers from the bank vault"

The federal agent looks over at Beckett "OK Captain Beckett. It seems you are still in the lead in this investigation. What is your current plan again?"

"We have a cell phone number that was pinged in the penthouse suite after everyone else had left. We believe the owner of that phone is most likely our killer. We just need a warrant to get the information from the carrier. It is taking way too much time to get one"

"I might just be able to expedite that for you" Blackwell remarks as he takes out his cell phone and dials a number. No one around hears who he is talking to or what is being said, but when he hangs up, he returns to the group "You should have your warrant in about ten minutes"

Just moments after Blackwell makes his call, Beckett's phone rings.

"It looks like it took less time than I thought it would "Agent Blackwell remarks

Looking at caller ID it indicated from the 12th precinct Beckett remarks "No. It's my guys" she pulls the phone to her ear "Beckett" she answers then waits for the caller to give her some information "That is interesting…and strange. Has Lanie said anything about the DNA from the deceased in that case?" she listens for a moment "Thanks LT"

Beckett disconnects then turns back to the group. "We just got information on the case that turns everything around"

"What's that?" Castle asks

"You remember the fake armored truck with the dead driver who crashed into the bridge?"

"Yeah!"

"We had tried to find out who made the purchases of parts that were used to assemble the fake armored car several months ago"

Castle nods his head "But there was no record of who or where."

"Well. Now there is"

"What did he find?" once again Rick questions

"A dealer in Lindale Texas sold a cab assembly to a man over the phone. It was shipped to New York"

"How did he pay for it?" Stake asks

"A bank transfer was made" Kate answers

"Then we just need to go to the bank and get the information from the account" Rick remarks

"The money came from an account set up just to make the purchases but the tax ID turned out to be fake" Kate gives the information that normally leads to a dead end

"Really?" Castle again answers

Beckett continues "Right, but since the account owner must show up in person to open an account the bank had video. It took them some time to go back and review all the video going way back, but they were able to finally make a positive ID of the person who opened the account"

Drake asks the next question "Who was it?"

"Charles Ivy"

"OK wait a minute" Rick starts up "If Charles Ivy paid for the materials to build the fake truck, he was involved in the theft of the servers, but why?"

Rick looks at his wife "Did Lanie get the DNA results on the deceased man that was driving the truck?"

"The detailed report says the man was 68% Eastern Europe"

"That means anything from France to Poland. A very big area "

Agent Blackwell has been listening to the theory building Castle and Beckett are doing and realizes how much good these two are capable of accomplishing and therefore why Stake puts his entire trust in them "We have determined that most of the attacks on our servers have come from that region, it makes sense that the suspects would be from that area, but why would Ivy be involved in the theft of his own machines?"

Beckett's phone rings once more. This time it is the District Court "Beckett" she listens then starts writing notes. "Thanks" she speaks into the phone then turns to the group "We have our warrant the issued it about ten minutes ago, it has been sent to the cell provider, and the call has been made to the phone company. We should have our name in just a…"

Beckett's phone rings once more "Beckett…" a surprised look appears on her face "Are you sure?" someone on the other end of the line repeats the information "Thanks for your help" she hangs up on the call

Turning to the group "You will NEVER guess who the last person to see Charles Ivy alive is"

…


	20. Chapter 20

Kate Beckett has once more put on her investigator hat as she enters the meeting room reserved for the police use

She drops down in a chair beside her husband and the local police detective Stanley Drake and the federal agent standing nearby watching the events unfolding

"Mariam, do you know why you are here?"

"No Kate. I don't. does it have something to do with me telling the stories of what you did in high school, because if it does, I will never mention the ride down Lexington"

Castle looks over to his wife and can see that this comment caught her totally off guard. He is not positive, but it does look like his wife has turned a little red around the ears

"UH…uh no it has to do with you keeping information from us"

The woman does seem totally caught off guard by Beckett's remark, but Kate has seen suspects try to fool their interrogators by constant denial of the situation "What information?"

"The information about you going to Charles Ivy's room last night and killing him"

"WHAT? NO! I was in my room asleep when he was killed. I went to bed early because I was planning on shopping. I was never in his room or anywhere near it"

Beckett drops a piece of paper down on the table and points to the print out "This report says that your cell phone was on the floor with Charles Ivy. You were there for about ten minutes then left?"

Mariam glances at the page and the listing but does not register what she is seeing "I was never near his room"

"Well your phone was. If you didn't have your phone, who did last night?"

"No one had my phone! It was with me in my room. I had put it on the charger when I came back from the party. It was late, I was tired, and I went to bed"

Beckett moves higher in her interrogation mode "Mariam! We have the proof right here" Beckett points at the page once again.

Just as she does, there I a knock on the meeting room boor and an officer steps up to Beckett and whispers something to her. Kate stands up "Excuse me" she turns and heads out the door into the corridor with her husband close behind

Once in the pre-function area she is met by Charles' partner and CTO, Nancy Hopkins "What is it Ms. Hopkins that needs my immediate attention?" Kate asks

The woman presents Beckett a piece of paper "I was checking the bank accounts to see if any checks bounced and discovered this"

Castle is looking over Beckett's shoulder when their faces both go from normal to shocked. Beckett and Castle both look up to the woman at the exact same moment "Is this right?" Beckett asks

The woman is nodding her head and speaking at the same time "Yes. I called the bank to make sure"

"Do they know where it come from?"

"No, not immediately. I asked them to trace it but so far it bounced through several banks in Europe and even in the states but the chief teller is not real encouraged about getting to the original source"

Becket looks at Nancy "Can I keep this for a little while?"

"Certainly"

"Will you let us know if they can trace the transaction to its source?"

"Yes, of course"

Beckett and Castle re-enter the meeting room where Mariam is still sitting looking across to the blank wall nearby. Beckett looks at the local detective and federal agent "Can you join us in the hall?"

The two men step outside and they close the door leaving Mariam inside with a uniformed officer

Beckett holds up the piece of paper just given to her "We have a situation that I did not see coming"

"What's that?" Drake asks

Indicating the document, she is holding "Someone deposited twenty million dollars in Charles Ivy's bank account earlier today"

"TWENTY MILLION?" Ron Blackwell remarks in shock "Where did it come from?"

"They don't know. It bounced across three continents and over a dozen banks, some accounts opened just for the transfer, then closed immediately after the transaction was completed"

"Is there is no way to determine where the money came from or why?"

Castle has been standing quietly, obviously considering the events. When Beckett looks to her husband, she sees his mind working "Rick? What is it?"

"What if Ivy planned this whole thing?"

Everyone looks at Castle like he has lost his mind, but his wife knows him too well "what do you mean?"

"OK…ivy bought and paid for the parts to build the fake armored car. That means he WAS involved in the theft. Maybe he was in trouble with foreign bookies, maybe even gambling debts to the Russian mafia"

Kate smiles to herself seeing the man she loves prove why she love him "Then he strikes a deal to pay off his debts and put the money back into the accounts"

"Yes!" Rick continues "The value of the software far exceeded the money he got"

Finally the federal agent enters the conversation "OK. Ivy sold out his country for a gambling debt. Did the foreign mafia then kill him?"

"No. I don't think so" Kate continues "I still think he was a murder victim for some other reason"

"What do you think that is?" Drake asks

"We still have not determined WHY Mariam's cell phone was in the penthouse. We need to go back in and talk to her some more"

The four agree and re-enter the meeting room and, once again, Castle and Beckett are seated across form the woman

"Mariam. Do you still deny you were in the Charles Ivy's room?"

"Yes Kate. I never left my room. I went to bed and did not wake up until this morning"

Kate takes the computer printout off the table and looks at the information "So. Are you saying that phone number 212-555-9855 is NOT you phone?"

The silence in the room becomes palatable when the face of the woman goes from normal to snow white

"Excuse me? What number?"

Beckett repeats the number. "The phone provider said this number is registered to you"

Mariam takes in a deep breath "UH…it…I…the number is registered to me but that is NOT the phone I carry"

"Then who uses this number?" Beckett questions

The woman is looking down, as if doing so will prevent her from answering

Beckett drops a little softer in her questioning "Mariam. You know who carries this phone. Who is it?"

She finally looks up "My husband…my husband has that phone number. I bought our phones and I guess they are both in my name"

"Was he here? At the hotel?"

"No…I mean he is not supposed to be here"

This is when Ron Blackwell speaks up "Mariam, we need to talk to your husband. If you know where he is you need to tell us now. If we find out you have been withholding information, it will not go well for you"

"I promise, I have no idea. He told me he was staying home"

Beckett continues the questioning "We will get the cell phone company to ping the phone a then we will have him. So, if you know, you need to tell us"

The woman finally looks up. He is here…in my room waiting for me to come back. He came in late last night. He had blood on his hands and seemed upset"

"Mariam, he had just killed Charles Ivy" Beckett remarks "Do you know why?"

The woman drops her head once more "Yes. He was the investment banker who financed Charles' original business. He had discovered the money was missing from the accounts. He told me he just came to ask what happened to all the cash"

Beckett stands up and walks around the table drawing handcuffs from her belt "Mariam Yarnell, you are under arrest for accessory after the fact in the murder of Charles Ivy"

The woman is escorted outside to await a female officer to take her in

Drake has sent two officers to the hotel room to arrest her husband and bring him down to the meeting room. Once they arrive it is evident that the man has been in some type altercation. He has a bruise under his eye and lacerations on his arms

Blackwell decides to start the questions "We know you were in Charles Ivy's room last night and I am sure we will get DNA off the lamp that you used to kill him. Care to tell us what happened?"

After a moment of silence "It was an accident. Charles came at me with the lamp telling me to leave. I grabbed the lamp and hit him to protect myself"

Being the local law enforcement officer, Drake continues "Why was he so mad. What had you said to him?"

"I was the investment banker for the business. I noticed the accounts drained. There were a lot of investors that would be asking what happened to the money and I came to get answers"

"But you killed him instead?" Beckett remarks

"He told me that he took the money but it would be replaced soon and I needed to wait. I told him I did not have time to wait that I would be meeting the investors early next week and will have to explain why the accounts were empty"

Castle speaks up "Did he say how the money would be replaced?"

"No, he just said he made a deal with someone and the accounts would be soon"

Drake directs the uniformed officer to take Mr. Seibert to central booking and he would be there shortly to file the charges

After the room is empty, silence if finally broken by Castle "He sold his technology to some foreign government of entity to pay off gambling debts"

Beckett continues "and he arranged it to look like a break in but that he orchestrated it"

"He was the only one who knew where, exactly, the servers were located and how to get to them" Drake fills in

Blackwell has watched this tale unfold "So we do know that a foreign power has possession of some our most powerful software, so my job is just beginning" he stands to leave then stops to look at Castle and Beckett "So how is it that you two are not with the federal government helping us stop attacks on our way of life"

Rick and Kate both chuckle a little when Kate finally answers "You are not the first to ask" then looking at Rick "but we are happy together and happy raising our kids at home where they have a family"

Blackwell nods his head in understanding when Drake speaks up "You know I might like to help with this"

The federal agent has a stunned look on his face "I thought you said you were happy here"

"I am…but maybe it is time for me to put my pains aside and sink my teeth into something tougher"

"Stake…let me think about it" turning to Castle and Beckett "I certainly hope I have the chance to work with you two again someday" he reaches out a hand to shake then exits the room into the hall

As the door opens Nancy Hopkins has been waiting to talk to someone about what happened "I understand Charles was murdered by the banker"

"That's correct" Beckett answers. Ivy sold out the company secrets for a bank account full of money"

Hopkins lets out a little chuckle

Castel looks at her with a question "What is that for?"

"Someone paid him a lot of cash to steal the drives. And that got him killed. If he has just let the drives crash and the data lost he would still have the money?"

Beckett looks to the woman "What do you mean?"

"I never told Charles, but to protect the company and all the investors I had taken out a loss of business insurance policy. The company will get an insurance claim for 100 million dollars"

She shakes her head and walks out.

Drake looks to the couple "I need to go do the paperwork in Seibert. I will see you two again" he turns to walk out of the room

Cate takes her husband's hand "One more time that keeping information has caused someone to lose their life "

Rick gives Kate a squeeze

She looks down to the connected fingers "how about you and me going to our room and celebrate life"

He goes willingly as she pulls him toward the elevator

* * *

 **Just an epilogue and we close this chapter in their lives**


	21. Epilogue

The couple have gone back to the main ballroom for the closing formal dinner and awards ceremony. The ceremony that Kate is dreading, like facing a Tiger or a sniper and not knowing what horrible thing might happen next.

She decided, tonight, she would look the part of the professional woman she is. Not to mention the wife of a world famous author who is occasionally in the spotlight of the media and often at some formal gala or public event where she has always shown her very dignified side. Fortunately, tonight, it is just her classmates and two of them.

But there is still that little bit in her past that might come back to haunt her

She has dressed in a nice black, off the shoulder dress. The full skirt passing just below her knees but still exposing her lovely legs in a modest manor.

The group assemble in the room and the festivities begin. The meal is served and the conversations flow easily sometimes bringing laughs or embarrassing tales of childish stories of antics that many would wish had not lived to this day

As they are waiting Maddison Quillar step up and her and Kate laugh and reminisce. Just in a few minutes the program begins. Maddie stands and says just loud enough that Kate knows Rick can hear "Don't worry…you and I are the only ones that can confirm what happened on Lexington"

That remark did not help Kate's blood pressure

Several minutes pass with stories of the events those many years ago with Kate worried about what forgotten event from her own teenaged years still might resurface.

One event in particular she hopes no one either knows about or no longer remembers but the stories of tonight will tell. Stories from the most mundane to more silly are told

A common thread passing around the room is how much of a flirt Kate was. She was known as a tease to all the boys. She leads every guy on then cuts him off just when he thought he might have a chance with her, he is left needing to take a cold shower.

"Her wearing those skin tight leather pants did little to cool any guy's jets

Kate leans into her husband "See babe, I told you that nothing happened in high school"

"You still have not modeled those pants for me" he is smiling

She seems giddy "I am not sure where they are anymore…"

These stories are something that was not anything new to Richard Castle. Her husband had spent several years suffering from her unstoppable ability to completely disarm him with a wink…a laugh…a passing whispered comment leaving him a blubbering fool. And this is something she is still totally able to do to him

When one of her classmates brings up the story of the Bed-Sty school's mascot, Peg Leg Pete and the competing high school, Sir Donley High School for boys 's mascot, a knight on a horse, she can feel Rick's eyes watching her for a reaction

Ronnie Chapman has his opportunity to tell the story from his perspective "Late on Friday night, Beckett, Madison, and another couple, that I can't remember the names, came and stole the Peg Leg Pete statue from the front steps and impaled him on the lance of the Knight…"

Beckett hears her husband let out a soft chuckle

"I will only admit to being involved…The entire escapade was Kate's idea" Ronnie finishes

Then finally the mistress of ceremony, Nancy Hopkins, wraps up by presenting Kate a plaque acknowledging her for being such as model for the Bed Sty graduates, As Kate is accepting the award someone in the crowd yells out 'don't forget to mention her being The Lady Godiva of Lexington'

Nancy speaks out "That was just a conspiracy theory"

No matter how hard she tries Beckett cannot help but turn red as the room laughs

/\/\/\/\/\

Kate is sitting quietly at the table where her and Rick finally selected for their private discussion after the awards and comments

She has a worried look on her face, wondering what her husband might be thinking she had done that brought out the comment from her old classmate

She looks at his face and cannot tell if he is worried like a man thinking his entire life is about to come crashing to an end or a man thinking this could be just one more layer in the Beckett onion. The onion that he has worked hard on trying to find the core of that particular fruit but, so far, to no avail

"Kate…we need to talk"

"I know"

"You know what it is I want to know"

"Well, there is a funny story to go along with that"

"OH? Funny?"

Kate drops her head letting her long hair cover her face

"Well…maybe not so funny in the Ha! Ha! way"

"In the WHAT kind of way then?"

"Are you sure you want to know?

"Yes I do! Will you tell me what Madison was talking about?"

She closes her eyes for just a short moment, takes a deep breath, then opens them. He can see a glisten on the whites where tears begin to try and escape

She reaches out to touch her husband's hand "Rick I was young and impetuous…and I should not have done what I did. I would have embarrassed my parent to the point we would have had to move out of the city. Dad would have put me in a nunnery"

At this moment a man steps up beside the table halting the conversation "Am I interrupting" Detective Drake asks

Rick says "Yes" at the same moment Kate, in a panic, says "No"

"I won't stay long so you two can get back to whatever you were discussing"

Kate leaves her hand on her husband's so he knows she is not running from the conversation that will follow

"First off…I enjoyed working with the two of you so very much"

"Same here" Kate responds

"But something happened during this case that brought me to the decision I had to make"

"What decision is that?"

"When I left the service, I was offered a job with a civilian contractor that does work for both the government and private sector. Work that sometimes borders on the gray edge. It's called SAG"

"Odd name" Castle responds

"Stands for Strategic Action Group"

"OK" Castle comments

"But I was not sure about wanting to be involved in some of their work so I declined the original offer"

Castle feels his wife's fingers tighten on his. He knows what she is thinking

"Are you talking about doing jobs that are outside the rule of law?"

The man shakes his head "No, not wet work or criminal activities like Ms. Beckett faced from Bracken"

Kate's head snaps up when he says that. "How do you know about that? Were these people the one's…"

"NO! No. I was aware of what happened to your mother. But at a much later time. It was part of a conversation that I had with the recruiter for this agency. He assured me that his company had never and would never do that type work for the benefit of some rogue politician or anyone else. All the jobs taken were to benefit of the downtrodden and the governments serving their people and would be sanctioned"

"What are you saying?" Kate asks

"After running into dead ends on this case and not locating whoever stole the software I got to thinking. I could help with these type cases and since I have no other reason to stay here…"

Castle and Beckett know exactly what he means when he says that he has nothing keeping him in this town

"So what are you planning to do?" Beckett questions

He looks at the couple "I am going to go and try to help the underdog by protecting the world or just a little girl being threatened or being sold into slavery. Whatever the victim needs"

"That sounds like a heroic thing to do" Castle remarks

"Not heroic. Just necessary. I don't want to see bad things happen to good people"

"So when do you leave?"

"I have already packed what few items I have and I am on my way to…" he stops realizing he cannot tell them his destination. That place is classified "Just say I have a place to be"

"Understood "Beckett states "you have a safe trip and take care of yourself" She looks at Rick "We have grown to like you"

"Thanks and you two keep having the most amazing love live together. You are great examples of what you can be if you really want it"

Castle and Beckett both nod in agreement as they watch him exit the building

Castle speaks first "I doubt if we will ever see or hear from him again"

"No but we will hear about things he does"

"True"

There is an extended pause then Rick looks back to Kate "so, where were we?"

A deep breath enters her lungs once more "It was late on a Friday night or more accurately early Saturday morning…Maddie and I had had a little too much to drink…actually a lot too much to drink"

She looks up through her lashes. "We were playing truth or dare"

"A lot of teenagers do that"

"Not every teenager has a Harley"

"This has to do with your bike?"

"Sort of"

"Sort of…how?"

"Well after the usual questions like how many times have you gone home drunk? How many guys have you had in one night…?"

"WAIT! I thought you said you didn't…I mean…not in high school"

"Like I said…I didn't…but After a few too many shots of tequila truth is not necessary the best thing in the conversation"

"OK then what happened?"

"Maddie gave me a dare…she dared me to ride my Harley down Lexington from one end to the other…"

"I am sure you rode there many times before"

"Not Nude"

Castle almost chokes trying to get his breath back "You rode down Lexington…? NUDE?"

"No. That was the dare. But I was too drunk and told her if I did, she had to ride with me"

"So you AND Maddison rode nude down the main street?"

"NO. I was able to convince her that maybe it was just as good to do it wearing very little. You know, leaving a lot to the imagination of any guys who saw us…so I wore my vest and chaps"

"And?"

She is trying to look at her husband in the eyes and it has become almost impossible. She is afraid of seeing his disappointment in his face

"Nothing else…everything was covered…well not everything…but nothing was visible to any spectators"

"Let me get this straight…you rode on your bike from one end of Lexington to the other wearing nothing but an open front vest barely covering anything and chaps. Chaps that I believe are open between…"

She cuts him off "I wore my helmet. No one knew it was me"

He pauses again "So this is something that Maddie knew about you but you said you knew more about her? Like what?"

"She was on the back of my bike?"

"You both rode down the street with almost nothing on?"

"We shared"

"You SHARED? You mean she wore the vest part time… and…you didn't…? or the chaps… or who wore what…when?"

Kate sees no change in Rick's face for an extended period of time then an eyebrow rises a tiny amount "Do you still have the vest and chaps?"

"Yeah I do. They are in a box in storage along with those leather pants"

"What else is in that box?"

"Just stuff"

"Kinky stuff?"

She suddenly feels relief. He is playing with her and does not seem to be upset "Maybe?" she comments in glee

"I'll tell you what…how about you model that outfit for me? The vest and chaps"

"In your dreams"

"Look at my dreams. She married me"

 **FINIS**

* * *

 **Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing this story and all my Murder in series...**  
 **I hope I brought some fun and a laugh or two**  
 **I have a couple of ideas for new stories but nothing pinned down at the moment.**  
 **We will have to see where life takes me**

 ** _I wonder what will happen to STAKE?_**


End file.
